Cut the Cake

Average White Band: Hamish Stuart, Alan Gorrie (vocals, guitar, bass); Onnie McIntyre (guitar); Malcolm "Molly" Duncan (flute, tenor saxophone); Roger Ball (alto & baritone saxophones, keyboards, synthesizer); Stephen Ferrone (drums, percussion). Additonal personnel: Ray Barretto (percussion). Originally released on Atlantic (18140). Includes liner notes by A. Scott Galloway. This is part of Rhino's Atlantic & Atco Re-Masters series. Personnel: Hamish Stuart , Alan Gorrie, Onnie McIntyre (vocals, guitar); Malcolm Duncan, Molly Duncan (flute, tenor saxophone); Roger Ball (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, keyboards, synthesizer); Dundee Horns (horns); Steve Ferrone (drums, percussion); Robbie McIntosh (drums); Ray Barretto (congas, percussion). Audio Remasterers: Ken Perry; Bill Inglot. Liner Note Author: A. Scott Galloway. Illustrator: Vincent Topazio. Photographer: Slick Lawson. Unknown Contributor Role: Roger Ball. Arranger: Roger Ball. Much is made of the fact that the members of the Average White Band were pale-faced Scots who somehow managed to be funky as all get-out, but the truth is that AWB was simply one of the tightest R&B/funk combos of the 1970s, regardless of ethnicity and nationality. The band's fourth album continues the momentum of its predecessors by offering more lock-step grooves and slippery bass lines peppered with clarion horns and memorable vocal refrains. The title track, an R&B hit in 1975, is a case in point. CUT THE CAKE also contains smooth mid-tempo groovers ("School Boy Crush"), and quiet storm balladry ("Cloudy" and a cover of "If I Ever Lose This Heaven"), sounding sharp and sassy in all styles. Despite the tragic death of their original drummer a year before, AWB sound both focused and invigorated here, so that CUT THE CAKE still delivers the funk, and ends up ranking among the band's better albums.

• Genre: R&B
• Format: CD
• Released: 07/20/1993