Leroy Burgess Anthology Volume 2: The Producer

Many of the influential disco and boogie records that producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Leroy Burgess was involved in only appeared on 12” singles. This compilation gathers together some of these singles along with some other stellar musical moments from the prolific Burgess’s career. Keys were his main instrument, and Burgess was never one to use just a pair of chords when he could link them with all manner of substitutions, filling his songs with moments of musical elation and melodic surprise, and this characteristic and influential style is on show through all these songs. Meanwhile, the sound he built — combining electronic and traditional instrumentation, and rediscovering the intricate syncopation, the funk, that had initially driven disco — powers all these productions. In an album with no filler, club classics “Mainline” from his band Black Ivory and Fonda Rae’s “Over Like A Fat Rat” are obvious high points, but tracks from his lesser known acts like Convertion, Dazzle and Caprice show no discernible drop in quality either.