Gratitude album cover
Gratitude

Earth, Wind & Fire

1975
Columbia

The double live album was a staple of the 1970s, and given that Earth, Wind & Fire were playing arenas by 1975, it’s no surprise that they put one out. What is surprising is just how ferocious a set it was — and how much of Maurice White’s origins on the Chicago jazz scene it revealed. The opening “Africano/Power” was a jazz-funk-rock jam on a level with what Miles Davis was doing at the same time, featuring searing sax and guitar solos, and keyboardist Ramsey Lewis guests on a version of his tune “Sun Goddess,” from the album of the same name, which featured EWF. They also devote nearly ten minutes to the instrumental “New World Symphony,” an epic Latin-funk-fusion piece that lets the Phenix Horns break their chains as the percussionists launch one wave of rhythm after another. The album also includes four then-new studio recordings, including the Top Five hit “Sing A Song.”

Phil Freeman

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