Black Rhythm Revolution / Peace & Rhythm

The album's title has more to do with the politics of its day (1972) than with the music; there's not much that's revolutionary going on here. In fact, the first track, the nine-minute "By the Red Sea," is a downright placid piece of soul samba, and the follow-up, a cover of James Brown's "Super Bad," reduces the original's intensity into a coolly percolating groove. And frankly, for a session led by the drummer, this is not a particularly rhythm-heavy set. Even the cover of Jack McDuff's "Soulful Drums" is curiously restrained, with some odd arrhythmic playing by Muhammad in counterpoint with Virgil Jones' trumpet and Clarence Thomas' soprano sax. Black Rhythm Revolution is not a bad album at all; in fact, most of the tracks are good to great, with the lengthy bookends "By the Red Sea" and "Wander" both featuring memorable grooves and tight, compact solos. It's just considerably less intense than the title might lead one to believe. ~ Stewart Mason