LOUIS BELLSON,SHELLY MANNE,WILLIE BOBO,PAUL HUMPHREY - THE DRUM SESSION

The Drum Session for Philips Japan from 1974.
Drums - Louis Bellson , Paul Humphrey , Shelly Manne , Willie Bobo/Keyboards - Mike Wofford/Bass - Chuck Domanico/Saxophone, Flute - Jerome Richardson/Trumpet - Bob Bryant
Producer - Oliver Nelson

A true feast of Orgy in Rhythm for this super heavy percussion and drum battle recorded direct to disc over four sides of vinyl in California for the Japanese audiophile market.
As you might imagine this is a real banger from start to finish stuffed with beats and breaks and plundered for samples by the likes of The Beastie Boys(Shake Your Rump from the monster break on Super Mellow).But it's much more than a series of extended drum solos with most cuts featuring swinging and funky accompaniment by Bobby Bryant, Jerome Richardson, Mike Wofford and Chuck Domanico with Willie Bobo adding latin flavours - although we do get "Drum Battle Sections 1 & 2" with four kits battering it out together and in relay.
From the jazz dance "Samba Sushi" to the funky "Super Mellow" to the vocalised percussion of "Mouth to Mouth Resucitation" you just know this has got to be All Killer No Filler !!!
It's also beautifully recorded with absolutely fantastic sound plus Oliver Nelson(who also contributed the lovely compositions "Japanese Garden"and "Your Warmth")at the production desk.
This double album was later edited down and reissued as a single lp for the US market by Inner City Records.I have ripped the full unedited 12 track Philips Japan Audiophile cd issue for this post