Steve Marshall - Do What You Will - 1978

Steve Marshall towers above the 70s San Francisco skyline on the cover of this record -- and the set features some equally towering grooves to match! The style here is a bit unusual -- kind of a west coast take on the underground modes of the P&P empire out east, mixed with a bit of soul jazz -- spare, simple club tracks that are a lot more stripped-down than regular disco -- with a real focus on the core rhythms and select instrumentation on the cuts! Bits of strings slide into the mix, but they're never overdone -- and most numbers pulsate with a really earthy sort of groove -- heavy on bass, peppered with female vocals, and lots of funky keyboards and horns. There's also a slightly jazzy vibe at times -- especially on numbers that feature flute work from Marshall -- which gives the tunes a lyrical quality that's nice and warm, especially alongside the chorus vocals -- which sometimes have a righteous qualitytoo. The reissue really brings up the sound nicely -- with the Kenny Dope stamp of approval right on the back -- and the CD also features lots of bonus tracks too! Titles include "Do What You Will", "This Choiceless Awareness", "Disco Rhapsody", "Maintain", "In The Country", and "Children Of The Mind". CD features 5 bonus tracks -- including "Maintain (12" version)", "Do What You Will (12" version)", "Maintain (7" version)", "Creative Happiness (7" version)", and "Still Thinking Of You (flute solo)".