Record Reviews

WAR ~ LIVE IN JAPAN 1974 RHINO 603497820443 (Barcode: 603497820443) ~ USA ~ Jazz-Funk Fusion Recorded: 1974 Released: 2026 This is an archival live album by the brilliant American Jazz-Funk Fusion group WarFind albums by this artist, recorded during their 1974 tour in Japan. The 2CD album presents fourteen tracks, all composed by the group members. All the music is previously unissued. The group’s septet lineup included saxophonist Charles MillerFind albums by this artist, harmonica player Lee OscarFind albums by this artist, guitarist Howard ScottFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Lonnie JordanFind albums by this artist, bassist B.B. DickersonFind albums by this artist, drummer Harold BrownFind albums by this artist and percussionist Papa Dee AllenFind albums by this artist. All the musicians also contributed vocal parts. The material includes a selection of tunes from their 1970s albums and offers excellent sound quality. War were a brilliant collection of superb instrumentalists and together created a superb mixture of Soul, Funk and Jazz, which sounds today as good as it did at the time. In retrospect they were light-years ahead of their time musically and most contemporary groups creating music in similar genres sound ridiculously weak in comparison to the music War created over fifty years ago. Deeply rooted in Jazz, the music includes ambitious instrumental soloing and complex structures, which are accessible to a wide audience due to the rhythmic pulsations and vocal parts, but in retrospect the music reveals incredible depth and sophistication. Overall, this album is an absolute delight from start to finish. For the veterans among us, this is a wonderful trip down memory lane, and for the young listeners, this should be a true revelation, which proves that this music puts everything recorded today to shame.

Updated: 02/10/2026Posted: 02/10/2026

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