Gabor Szabo & The California Dreamers - Wind Sky And Diamonds (1967)

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Gabor Szabo & The California Dreamers - Wind Sky And Diamonds (1967)

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A most unusual record, WIND, SKY & DIAMONDS is an intriguing, though not quite successful jazz-rock experiment. Superior West Coast jazz talent is present – including guitarists Howard Roberts, Dennis Budimer and Herb Ellis, pianist Mike Melvoin and percussionists Victor Feldman and Emil Richards. But there's little in the music that departs from the main, familiar pop-rock melodies. It seems the real intention is to spotlight the vocalists; a group of studio singers, known at the time as the California Dreamers (these familiar voices have since been heard in many TV commercials and as part of the Partridge Family and Quincy Jones productions).

Szabo himself seems like an afterthought. His familiar guitar is hardly noticeable and his ideas seem tacked on to the proceedings. He is subjected to noodling occasionally between vocal lines and only infrequently carries the melody ("White Rabbit," "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"). Even less often, unfortunately, he is provided opportunity to pilot a brief, but meaningful solo ("Twelve Thirty," "Guantanamera" "Are You There").

Regardless, WIND, SKY & DIAMONDS remains an important part of Gabor Szabo's discography. It celebrates much of what was important to the guitarist: the new world of rock music, the beauty of California, the hope and inspiration sweeping through the "Summer of Love," the freedom drugs promised and a whole new world that seemed to be shaping before everybody's eyes that year.

Szabo even reiterates the importance of this music by taking two impassioned recitations. The first begins the album in a prologue to the Animal's "San Franciscan Nights":

"The following song is dedicated to the city and the people of San Francisco; who may not know it, but they are beautiful. And so is their city. This a very personal song. So if you cannot understand it, particularly my friends in Budapest, save up all your bread and fly Translove Airways to San Francisco, USA. Then maybe you’ll understand this song. It will be worth it; if not for the sake of this song, but for the sake of your own piece of mind. So I’ll meet you in San Francisco. Or for those of you in Budapest, San Francisco ban találkozunk!"

Szabo's next recitation follows a superb acoustic guitar solo in "Guantanamera," the beautiful Jose Marti poem set to the tune of a popular song from Havana (when it was refitted with English words and performed by American folk singer Pete Seeger in 1961, it became an international hit):

"Jose Marti of Cuba was born in 1853. At the age of 17 he was exiled and spent most of his life away from his home. When he was 42, he finally returned to Cuba and within a year was killed in an aborted uprising. And this is one of his last poems: I’m a truthful man/And before dying I want to share this poem of my soul/My verses are light green/but also flaming crimson/My verses are like a wounded fawn/seeking refuge. For the poor people of this earth/I want to share my fate."

This is an exceptional performance, highlighted by a solo that clearly reflects fellow guitarist Jimmy Stewart's profound and creative impact on Szabo. It seems ultimately surprising that Szabo never performed "Guantanamera" again in his career. He really brings this meaningful rendition to life.

"Are You There" is another highlight. Starting with Szabo's melody for "Fox" (performed on SONGS FOR GENTLE PEOPLE) and adding Steve Allen's interesting lyrics, this song has the album's strongest "rock" feel and benefits from Szabo's meatiest solo on the record.

It's perhaps notable that WIND, SKY & DIAMONDS was the first solo album Gabor Szabo recorded on the West Coast, near his own home. With rare exception (SMALL WORLD, MIZRAB, RAMBLER, NIGHTFLIGHT and BELSTA RIVER), Szabo would perform and record almost exclusively on the West Coast for the rest of his career.

As the review indicates, it is somewhat of an unusual record. Gabor Szabo became known as a respected jazz guitarist, but this is his attempt, or maybe Impulse Records' attempt, at trying to come up with an unusual pop record, unusual in the sense that the mixture of sounds just don't fit together. Even at the end of 1967, when this was released, that seems unusual in itself.

Hip-hop fans will know "San Franciscan Nights", as it was sampled by People Under The Stairs a few years back.