Just as I Thought

Some musicians are content to play one style of music exclusively, but that would never work for someone as eclectic and broad-minded as David Sancious. The keyboardist/guitarist/composer is the type of person who would listen to Chopin one minute and Parliament/Funkadelic the next, and someone that eclectic probably would have been bored to tears if he had not explored different styles of music. Recorded for Arista in 1979 and reissued on CD by One Way in early 2001, Just As I Thought is a major departure from the album that came just before it, True Stories. While that 1978 recording favored vocal-oriented progressive rock, Just As I Thought is primarily an album of instrumental jazz fusion. There are a few non-jazz numbers that feature singer Khabir Ghanni, including the tender pop/rock ballad "Again" and the prog rock offering "Suite (For the End of an Age)." But most of the material is pure 1970s fusion, and Bruce Springsteen fans who still associate Sancious with the E Street Band should know that instrumentals like "Valley of the Shadow" and "Run" have little in common with the Boss but a lot in common with Weather Report, Chick Corea's Return to Forever, and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. With one foot in jazz and the other in pop, rock, and funk, Just As I Thought isn't for bop purists but is recommended to anyone with a taste for 1970s fusion.