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Funk & Soul Live In Japan

The elemental world has always been a strong force to reckon with - and, like their namesake, Earth, Wind & Fire was a huge combination of funk, soul, jazz, pop and ballads beginning in the mid-70’s throughout the “80s and into the ‘90s. Evidently, they are still a hot commodity. Earth Day 2008 saw the re-release (originally released in 2000) of In Concert,  their 1981 New Year’s Eve concert in Oakland, California.

Late summer 2008 saw the release of this spectacular CD/DVD 2 disc concert Live In Japan from their 1990 Heritage tour. Japan, until the past couple of decades, is a country that generally stays seated and politely claps after each song at a concert. Few bands have gotten the Japanese audiences out of their seats. This live performance of the twelve-piece band and two dancers has them screaming and rocking as founder/vocalist, Maurice White shares the vocal duties with the soprano/falsetto vocals of Philip Bailey dazzle the crowd with a dozen songs for an hour-and-a-half set.

The show begins with a flurry of percussive sounds as the band hits the stage in their snazzy duds (for the time), shucking the glittery, outrageous outfits they donned earlier in their career. They appear by walking through a huge screen onstage, similar to what Alice Cooper used to do in the ‘70s. They start the set out with “System of Survival,” getting the audience pumped up. Soon, they are playing the hit, “September,” followed by “Fantasy” and “Shining Star” with all kinds of energy, a great tone to Sheldon Reynolds’ hot guitar licks which EW&F blends in with a little Jimi Hendrix and lets Smith jam.

White slows the pace down once he jumps on the kalimba (sort of like a marimba/xylophone that is small enough to be held in the hands and played with the thumbs). The song is “Kalimba Tree,” a relaxing R&B piece which White makes into a lengthy tune alongside “The Phenix Horns.” He also shows some of his vocal prowess and entices the audience to try and imitate his lengthy vocal notes before the song picks up a little for a hopping ending.

They slow it down once again for a ballad, which hit #2 on the Billboard and the R&B charts back in ‘79, “After the Love is Gone.” The screaming fans let the band know it’s, without a doubt, one of their favorites.

“For the Love of You” slaps the funk back down with the groovin’ bass lines supplied by Verdine White and percussionist Ralph Johnson does a little bit of rapping throughout the song, as well. This has always been a fun song.

Then they slide into “Reasons,” an R&B piece that gives Alto Sax player, Andrew Woolfolk, the chance to showcase some of his talent. He’s also the horn section leader and a very soulful musician. The soulfulness turns into a very freestyle jazz jam, momentarily, before returning to something like one would hear on a classy lounge.

“Let’s Groove” picks the tempo back up with this Pop favorite and features a great drum solo from Sonny Emory. They finish the show with “That’s the Way of the World.” Lyrically this song makes sense to end the show with since the band’s Heritage album tour was built around the theme of fellowship of humanity. Climatically, despite the guitar solo, it’s not the most happening song of the set. I like a show that ends with a driving piece that is like the finalé of a 4th of July fireworks display.

The CD & DVD are identical in terms of the songlist and order. This collector’s edition comes with a nice triple-fold insert with some band history and information about the tour. The case is even designed so that one side flips out to not only pop out the DVD, but to make it easy to see part of the band onstage after they made their appearance through the split screen and to make it more accessible to get to the insert.

The audio quality of both discs sounds excellent. The DVD is in Full Screen and has the options of DTS Digital Surround, Dolby Surround 5.1 and Dolby Digital Stereo. Oddly enough, there are no special features. The In Concert re-release had a bio on the band, so why Live In Japan has no bio, interviews or, at the very least, a discography, is beyond me. Otherwise, this is a great collection to have in your A/V music library.

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