Full title: Fused! The Swinging Soul Sound Of Dave Davani.
FUSED! contains the complete LP from 1965 plus selected singles and 4 unreleased tracks.
Liner Note Author: Nick Rossi.
Arranger: Dave Davani.
This contains not only the entirety of Davani's only 1960s album, Fused!, but also a couple of 1965-1966 singles and four previously unreleased outtakes from the same era. Fused! was a very respectable instrumental soul-jazz effort, with Davani's Hammond organ backed by the sort of sleek electric guitar and sturdy rhythm section one would have expected from mid-'60s Prestige soul-jazz sessions. Davani was a little (but not much) more pop-slanted than the average such Prestige act, particularly on the cover of "Big Boss Man," which with its harmonica and tambourine shows the influence of mid-'60s British R&B-rock. For the most part, however, the album presents covers of American jazz tunes by Miles Davis (an especially dynamite version of "Milestones"), Big John Patton, Cannonball Adderley ("Sack o' Woe," also covered by Manfred Mann around this time), Nat Adderley ("Jive Samba"), and Dizzy Gillespie ("The Champ"). Davani also covered "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and James Brown's "Night Train," and penned a couple of his own tunes, including the title track, which has a tauter, more urgent beat than most of the soul-jazz done by his American counterparts. The bonus tracks are just as worthwhile, including a 1965 instrumental single cover of the "Top of the Pops" theme, the 1966 single "The Jupe"/"On the Cooler Side" (which has more of a Swinging London R&B feel than most of the material from the album), a cover of Booker T. & the MG's' "Boot-Leg" (intended for a 1965 single but not issued), two outtakes from Fused!, and a previously unreleased cover of Barbara George's "I Know." ~ Richie Unterberger
