Richard Sussman / Andy LaVerne / Bob Moses ~ USA ~ New York

Tributaries (1979) 

On the surface Tributaries is your garden variety instrumental jazz fusion album on Inner City. In some ways it is, but it's the instrumentation that makes this one interesting. Sussman and Laverne both play keyboards here, and the instrument of choice is decidedly the piano. But it's the other toys that create the separation here: Mini-Moog, ARP Omni, and Fender Rhodes. So for analog synth fans, Tributaries suddenly becomes more than just an idle curiosity item. The songwriting is uniformly good, and there's plenty of great melodies. The piano playing is quite accomplished as well. This leaves the 3rd member of the trio Bob Moses, who provides the drumming. His style is scattered and energetic, giving the album a bit more urgency than usual. Overall a fine fusion album, and one that is still unknown.

Ownership: 1979 Inner City (LP)

No reissues exist as of 3/12/25.

6/20/19 (review / new entry)