Joe Farrell - Moon Germs / Outback - Multiple titles - LP Albums (multiple items) - 1st Pressing - 1973

Artist: Joe Farrell, Elvon Jones, Chick Corea, Buster Williams
Title: Moon Germs
Label: CTI Records – CTI 6023
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 1973
1st Pressing
Genre: Jazz
Style: Post Bop, Modal
Sleeve: Near Mint
Media: Near Mint


Artist: Jpe Farrell, Herbie Hancock, Stan Clarke, Jack Dejohnette
Title: Outback
Label: CTI Records – CTL 13
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Country: UK
Released: 1973
1st Pressong
Genre: Jazz
Style: Post Bop, Modal
Sleeve: Near Mint
Media: Near Mint

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Outback

Release & recording: Outback was recorded on November 4, 1971 at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs (NJ) and released in 1972 through the label CTI Records.

Line-up / Co-players: Joe Farrell (tenor & soprano saxophone, flute, piccolo), Chick Corea (electric piano), Elvin Jones (drums), Buster Williams (bass), and percussion by Airto Moreira.

Musical style: Although the album belongs in jazz, it is not “mainstream” straight-ahead jazz — the music balances between open composition and improvisation. According to reviewer Tom Jurek, Outback is “an adventurous, spicy exercise on the loose rope between composition and improvisation”.

Track list (short): Some songs are “Outback (From the Motion Picture Outback)”, “Sound Down”, “Bleeding Orchid”, “November 68th”.

Importance / character: Outback shows Farrell's versatility — he switches between saxophone and flute, with a rhythm section that plays dynamic, sometimes percussive and open. The combination of Corea's electric piano and Airto's percussion gives the album a certain edge, and offers space for challenging improvisations. According to a review on the reissue of his albums, it is “a nice album whose merits are sometimes overlooked — the rhythm section is exemplary and Farrell delivers here what is to his best game on record.”

Presto Music
In short: Outback is exciting, experimental, and shows Joe Farrell in a creative and liberal setting.

Moon Germs
Release & recording: Moon Germs was recorded on November 21, 1972 — also in the Van Gelder Studio — and released in 1973 on CTI Records.

Line-up / Co-players: Joe Farrell (soprano saxophone, flute), Herbie Hancock (electric piano), Stanley Clarke (bass), and Jack DeJohnette (drums).

Musical style: This album leans strongly towards jazz-fusion / jazz-funk and is one of Farrell's most rhythmically driven and “groovy” albums. A review notes that Moon Germs “virtually is the blueprint for later funk jazz of this type” and that this is the first time in Farrell's solo work that he is fully in the electric jazz/funk side.

Dustygroove.com
The four tracks are “Great Gorge”, “Moon Germs”, “Time's Lie” (composition by Chick Corea), and “Bass Folk Song” (composition by Stanley Clarke).

Importance / character:

“Great Gorge” opens the album with a solid, funky bass line from Clarke and a melody by Farrell on soprano-saxophone that turns into a modal groove — then the band plunges into an intense improvisation.

Jarrett House North

The album is said to have a “powerful groove” and that the combination of Farrell + Hancock + Clarke + DeJohnette results in a “sly subversion” of what you would expect from the typical CTI sound — with room for freedom and accessibility.

Reception / Reputation: Many fans and critics consider Moon Germs one of Farrell's best solo albums. On a review site it gets a critic score of 80/100, and in user reviews it is often touted as “essential” for those who want to know Farrell.

Album of the Year
In summary: Moon Germs is soulful, rhythmic, funky — a strong “fusion/jazz-funk” album that underscores the versatility and boldness of Joe Farrell.