from the LP Leaving This Planet, Prestige Records, 1974The late Charles Earland easily stands as one of the most talented and prolific keyboard players in the history of jazz music, constructing a style all his own which fused the more nuanced elements of soul, funk, and jazz into an otherworldly sum total. On this, the title track to one of his farther-out albums, Earland is initially heard shouting to the guy behind the boards that he can’t hear his monitor, but with some nice rocket-type effects in the background it could just as well be an astronaut doing last checks with mission control. The rest of the track commences with some very well-played and spacey jazz-funk craziness, giving players room for solos but never losing the essential groove, and Mr. Earland’s writhing synthesizer most assuredly lifts one up into a higher atmosphere!
