Locksmith - Unlock The Funk (1980) {Arista AB-4274} Vinyl Rip 16bit/44.1kHz

An obscure album of jazzy funk, produced by Harvey Mason, with a similar feel to some of his own work on Arista during the late 70s. The album has vocals on a numbers of cuts, in kind of a part ensemble funk mode that doesn’t always work best for the group. Fortunately, there’s some great moments that change the groove a bit — like the mellow stepper “It’s You”, which features lead vocals by Stephanie Spruill — and the sublime instrumentals “Blackjack” and “Cinnamon”, both of which have a totally sweet jazzy groove that’s got a great warm polish to it!.

Track List

A1 Unlock The Funk 4:26
A2 Black Jack 4:40
A3 Groove Town 4:27
A4 It's You 5:25

B1 Cinnamon 4:43
B2 TMI 4:19
B3 Don't Hurt Yourself 3:56
B4 Someone Like You 4:14
B5 Far Beyond 4:14

musicians

John Blake,Jr. - violin,synthesizers,vocals
Tyrone Brown - bass,vocals
Leonard Gibbs - congas,timbales,syndrums,bongos,percussion,vocals
James Simmons - piano,clavinet,synthesizers,vocals
Millard Yinson - drums,vocals
Richard Steacker - acoustic and electric guitars,vocals

Stephanie Spruill - lead vocals on track A4

Produced by Harvey Mason