''Driving While Black'' is an album by multi-instrumentalists

Bennie Maupin Bennie Maupin (born August 29, 1940) is an American jazz multireedist who performs on various saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet. Biography Maupin was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandish ...

and Dr.

Patrick Gleeson Patrick Gleeson (born November 9, 1934) is an American musician, synthesizer pioneer, composer, and producer. Career Gleeson moved to San Francisco in the 1960s to teach in the English Department at San Francisco State. Gleeson began experimentin ...

. It was recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco, and was issued in 2006 by Intuition Records. It was Maupin's first release as a leader in 20 years. In an interview, Maupin recalled: "It was my first all-digital recording. It was experimental and a lot of things were not about playing chord changes but exploring tonal relationships... the whole album took about two years to produce. I was knocked out by the things that we did." Electronic duo

Techno Animal Techno Animal was an electronic duo formed in 1990 in London, England by British musicians Justin Broadrick (of the band Godflesh) and Kevin Martin (aka the Bug, of the band God). The duo released six LPs beginning with their 1991 debut ''Gho ...

did a remix of "Miles to Go" for the album ''Macro Dub Infection, Vol. 2''.

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Christian Genzel wrote that the musicians "have produced an album which skillfully blends '70s fusion and '90s acid jazz: Gleeson's funky hip-hop beats sound fresh and up to date, while his usage of analog synths... breathes a '70s air. Maupin's saxophone playing is powerful and strong on improvisation." He praised "Miles to Go," stating: "Maupin shows that he's still one of the best bass clarinet players around; his screaming and squealing through Gleeson's synth washes is probably his best performance (on record) in years." The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' called the album "a curious period piece awkwardly transplanted in time," but noted that "Gleeson's rhythms are more than wallpaper for Maupin's plangent saxophone."

Track listing

"Smiling Faces" composed by

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...

and

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong Jr. (February 5, 1941 – January 28, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter known for his recording of "Money (That's What I Want)", which was the first hit single for the Motown record label. He is also known for his songw ...

. Remaining compositions by Bennie Maupin and Patrick Gleeson. # "

Smiling Faces ''Smiling Faces'' is an American musical theatre, musical with music by Harry Revel, lyrics by Mack Gordon (and addditionally, for the song "Do Say You Do", by Harold Adamson), and a Musical theatre#Book musicals, musical book by Harry Clarke. Pr ...

" – 6:21 # "Riverside Drive" – 6:20 # "The Work" – 6:30 # "The Lookout" – 5:38 # "Driving While Black" – 5:24 # "Bank Float" – 4:35 # "Miles to Go" – 4:45 # "In Re: Nude Orbit" – 5:48 # "Vutu" – 7:01

Personnel

– wind instruments * Dr.

– rhythm instruments

References

{{authority control 1998 albums Bennie Maupin albums