Platinum Jazz

Performer: War
Engineer: Chris Huston; Ed Barton
Producer: Jerry Goldstein
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel includes: Lonnie Jordan (keyboards), "Papa Dee" Allen (percussion). Composers: Harold Brown; Howard Scott ; Jerry Goldstein; Lee Oskar; Lonnie Jordan; Papa Dee Allen; B.B. Dickerson ; Charles Miller. Personnel: Howard Scott (vocals, guitar, percussion); Charles Miller (vocals, flute, clarinet, saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, percussion); Lee Oskar (vocals, harmonica, percussion); Lonnie Jordan (vocals, piano, keyboards, percussion); B.B. Dickerson (vocals, electric bass, percussion); Papa Dee Allen (vocals, drums, congas, bongos, percussion); Harold Brown (vocals, drums, percussion). An often overlooked and underrated part of War's legacy was their instrumentals, many of which were quite imaginative. War's members loved jazz, and they expressed that passion not because they had any illusions of trying to compete with Miles Davis or Joe Henderson (or even Charles Earland and Grover Washington, Jr.), but simply for the enjoyment of it. Initially released as a two-LP set and reissued as a single 78-minute CD in 1992, Platinum Jazz gathered War's previously released instrumentals with fine results. Jazz fusion material ranging from the unpredictable "City, Country, City" (arguably the band's best instrumental ever, and certainly their best known) and the salsa-influenced "Nappy Head" to the mellow "H2Overture" and the congenial "Smile Happy" show just how effective War's members could be without vocals. And when saxman Charles Miller and keyboardist stretch out, it's clear that as improvisers, they weren't half bad. ~ Alex Henderson War became a superstar funk unit in the '70s by seamlessly fusing several elements: R&B vocals, Afro-Latin rhythms, rock theatrics, and even occasional jazz strains. This 12-track reissue presents instrumentals featured on War albums, songs that were generally longer than their hit singles and didn't get much attention in original issue. They show that while the band members weren't great soloists, they had an energy and improvisational elan that kept their extended jams from dragging. ~ Ron Wynn

First as a backing band for Eric Burdon, and then on its own, multi-cultural band War played true "world music" years before the term was coined. The group pioneered a blend of soul, R&B, funk, Latin, jazz and African music, and even managed to have several hit singles along the way. Harmonica player Lee Oskar recorded several notable solo albums as well.

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