So, I dunno … maybe my expectations were unfairly high coming in (that amazing cover art promised all kinds of musical miracles), but I wound up pretty disappointed with Mandrill’s work, and I’m not sure I’ll be motivated to dig any deeper into their discography … unless you tell me to. When they do manage to escape their influences’ shadows, Mandrill flit from the flute-led bossa nova of “ Cohelo” and “ Kofijahm (Coffee Jam),” to traversing the galaxy with the nonsensical, philosophical mumbo-jumbo of “ Universal Rhythms.”įrankly, the only two cuts I really got into here were “ Git it All,” which insists that you “shake some booty” (and simply won’t take no for an answer), and a riff-driven, surprisingly funk-free hard rocker called “ Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.” Song Highlights Git It All Claude Cave II / Bundie Cenac / Mandrill / Omar Mesa / Charles Padro / Carlos Wilson / Lou Wilson / Ric Wilson Ape Is High. ![]() Which they obviously did when it came to Mandrill Is’ eye-catching gatefold sleeve, but the music was another matter, because the group’s genre-hopping versatility seems to have impeded them from developing a style all their own, and reduced them to aping (sorry, couldn’t resist) some of the era’s better-known acts, instead.įor example, “ Ape is High” kicks things off positively jonesing for Sly Stone, the Latin-splashed “ Children of the Sun” and “ Lord of the Golden Baboon” both scream Santana, and the sonically laid-back but lyrically tortured “ I Refuse to Smile” sounds like a downer inversion of Al Green’s sensual soul. With new drummer Neftali Santiago, Mandrill scored. ![]() Double-lp usually works as 1LP but no extra. But when it comes down to it, most record buyers couldn't give a toss about. This is some trippy-ass cover art right here!Īfter falling in love with Cymande’s influential first album last year and recommitting myself to continually absorbing the Parliament/Funkadelic catalogs, I was on the lookout for more progressive funk adventures when I spotted Mandrill’s second LP, Mandrill Is, in a record store bin.įormed in the late ‘60s by the three Wilson brothers: Carlos (trombone/vocals), Lou (trumpet/vocals), and Ric (saxophone/vocals), all of whom were born in Panama and raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Mandrill soon signed to Polydor and released a self-titled debut in 1971.Īnd, though it hardly lit up the charts, the album helped establish Mandrill’s reputation as “Champions for Peace” with a 13-minute suite dubbed “ Peace & Love,” setting the stage for the Wilsons, plus bandmates Omar Mesa (guitar), Claude ‘Coffee’ Cave (keyboards), Frederick ‘Fudgie Kae’ Solomon (bass), and Charles Padro (drums), to take things up a notch. record: EX-, plain white sleeve: EX,small writing on one label.
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