Let Me Ride/Sweet Wine/Do U No Hu Yor Phrenz R/We Free Kings/I Don’t Want To Gone On Without You/Toady/12 Gates Of The City
The second release from the jazz-rock ensemble founded by Cream drummer Ginger Baker. Unlike the live cuts on the debut this one comprises studio recordings featuring vocals from Graham Bond and some female singers.
“Ginger Baker's second album with the Air Force is made up of the band first studio recordings. We have a fairly eclectic mix of music that combines Baker's usual jazz, R & B, and blues-rock inclinations (explored in his tenure with Graham Bond and Cream), with his post-psychedelic fascination with world music. Weaving in and out of the album are African rhythmic innovations and harmonic horn lines as well as eastern musical flourishes. This album, while highly uneven and inconsistent is a mostly pleasant listening experience overall.”
“This is off the pace of their debut. However, it's still progressive, but the use of horns, sax, and female backing vocals lends a strong soul flavour.”
“I assumed this would be mostly an unenjoyable venture into world music, heavy on drums and instrumentals. Happily, I was wrong. Ginger may be directing the music from his kit, but he's not dominating it by any means. It's definitely not Cream's blues-rock style at all. I would call it eclectic (for the time), but very listenable. The vocals are mostly split between Graham Bond's sandpaper rasp, and a collection of female singers who sing back-up on the other tracks. There are ‘world beat’ influences all over the record, but all the songs have a contemporary rock/pop underpinning, and a pretty good groove to them.”
“After the first few cuts of this LP were recorded, all the really big names except Ginger Baker and Graham Bond left. The music is basically Baker's drum kit plus a bunch of woodwinds (mostly flutes and saxes) and rather quirky vocals. The arrangements and production seem relatively rudimentary, and the overall feel is pretty loose, like an early-stage rehearsal. The saxes tend towards Coltrane-esque free-jazz. Most of the songs are at least co-written by Baker and feature his characteristic goofiness.”
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