Another bombshell from the Dudziak! Actually the best from her solo career if you ask me & recorded on Arista in 1975. So more psycho-frolicking cute, kitsch, skits, deranged, cartoon-cuckoo-calenture, amateur/professional, animal-kingdom-mimicry & high-energy super-oestrogen spear-headed vocal-expostulation lallation backed-up by hard-Funk & Fusion. I have already pretty much depleted my Urszula Dudziak description-dictionary in the previous Michal Urbaniak “Fusion” LP post, but she takes high-pitched acutely feminine effervescence that is much more renowned in the Japanese Anime character-acting or  “extreme kawai” host/idol style to hegemonic-heights, pretty much preceding the whole phenomenon as far as I can tell!? She exercises both huge skill & virtuosity with utter frivolity & on occasions an almost infantile shunning of “professionalism”. I think it would be correct to also say, or at least compare, her to the beat-box practice (or instrument?) that would surface years later through Rap. Although very disparate from the beat-boxing form, Dudziak does display significant similarities, though she circumvents beats, plays much more like a non-percussive lead instrument & solo’s/improvises extensively. She is not as feral as say Linda Sharrock, but is definitely more accomplished & capable technically. Other mad-hatters worth comparing her to would be Jeanna Lee, Gayle Palmoré & Jay Clayton. This is a really great record. Aside from Michal Urbaniak, who wrote some of the arrangements & also plays a synthesizer on this album, the other cast (Harold Ivory Williams, Reggie Lucas, Gerald Brown, Joe Caro & Basil Fearrington) are all unfamiliar to me. They are a damn tight Fusion unit & an ideal support-syndicate for nutty Dudziak. The drummer lavishes some really nice licks & cut’s loose on occasions, tanked-up on Mouzon, Gadd, Cobham & Naralda orientated power & panache. The guitars also exult with some wild soloing. & yes, a moog is ordained, making pretty much the perfect accomplice for Dudziaks mental garble. I am very pleased that the album does not suffer from commercial capsize. You can see it creeping into the directive here, but it’s just tossed into the jaws of a mostly manic, full-throttling, verging on hysterical, clearly not abiding by the rules & having way too much of a ball to even notice squeaky-saccharine mayhem. They overpower, convert & envelope all these factors to their own frequency, as any decent Fusion generally should be capable of doing. It’s been well engineered as well, with a really luscious bass sound that strides at it’s hardest on Mosquito & the delectably languid ballad Just The Way You Are (the only track with words/English language on the album). I have three other solo LP’s by Dudziak, all of which have their explicit merits & charm, but this is definitely her best album for me with lashings of cult kudos! Just check out “Sno King” for gurds-sakes! Great stuff! Cardiac arrest! – the son of a bitch is totally out-of-print!

Rekd: 1975

Label: Arista