Everything (1973)
---12/16/11
Smoke's Everything is a varied, but super cool atmospheric jazz rock album. Freaky in the MPS tradition, though group is California based (rather than German as is often thought). The bass clarinet piece recalls Lard Free on I'm Around About Midnight. Speaking of which, lots of great midnight lounge organ sounds. No other album like this one. A kozmigroov classic.
---6/20/26
That was the CDRWL entry. Today I received in the mail the first legit reissue. Popped it right into the chamber immediately, something I rarely do anymore. Let's see if that original review holds up.
A1 is a relatively sane and mellow atmospheric jazz rock opening. A2 borders Krautrock with its haunting sounds. A3 goes for the deep groove. It really does remind me of Lard Free on I'm Around About Midnight. Though some of the winds soloing gets a bit unhinged until the organ saves the day.
B1 adds in some cool African percussion and female wordless vocals. B2 really gets out there, almost like an Ethereal Wave album with echoed female vocals and piano. Then another deep groove sets in with echoed vibes on top, as only the Germans would do it. B3 seemingly is going to be a straight jazzer, until it too goes into deep space with a stoned Milt Jackson styled vibes sound. It does eventually get into a bit of hard bop with some free jazz sax blow. He seems to be the most jazz oriented of the bunch. Fortunately the organist comes in to stop him from going completely mad and bring us back to what one expects from the MPS label. B4 is the most representative of the Kozmigroov sound.
Overall I enjoyed a +1 listen.
Ownership: 2026 Solid / MPS (CD). Liner notes in Japanese. The original back cover liner notes are here as well (in both German and English), but you'll need a magnifying glass to see them.
12/16/11 (review); 6/20/26 (update)
They have another album from 1970 that I have yet to hear.
6/20/26 (new entry)
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