Lalo Schifrin ‎- No One Home (1979) [2014 Remaster]

It’s never been easy to pigeonhole Lalo Schifrin. The four-time Grammy-winning Argentinian composer created one of the most memorable television themes of all time with his “Mission: Impossible,” recorded jazz albums for labels including Verve and Creed Taylor’s CTI, worked with Count Basie, Cannonball Adderley and Sarah Vaughan, and scored innumerable films, racking up six Oscar nominations in the process. Now, Demon Music Group has reissued two lost gems of the Schifrin oeuvre, both originally recorded for Clarence Avant’s Tabu label, for the first time on CD. Gypsies (1978) and No One Home (1979) have recently arrived in deluxe, casebound expanded editions as part of Demon’s long-running Tabu series.
Schifrin returned to Tabu with No One Home. Whereas Gypsies was an instrumental album, No One Home would be emphasize vocal songs with jazz fusion flourishes. The road to the eventual release was a bumpy one, however. A. Scott Galloway’s liner notes detail Schifrin’s recording of a different, eight-song album featuring vocalist Sandy Graham which was shelved by Tabu (reportedly at the behest of their distributor, CBS) for being too “legit” sounding. One of the songs recorded by Graham for that as-yet-unreleased project was “No One Home,” which was reinvented by Schifrin and his associate producer Schuyler “Sky” Traughber as a funky club jam sung by Sylvia Smith. Tabu founder Avant had brought Traughber into Schifrin’s circle to aid the composer in creating a more “rhythmic” album. Traughber brought Minnie Riperton’s song “Oh, Darlin’…Life Goes On” to Schifrin’s attention; it became one of two songs on the LP not composed by Schifrin. (The other is “Middle of the Night” from Lalo’s old friends Louis and Monique Aldebert.)

As was the case with “No One Home,” the R&B-flavored “Enchanted Flame” was carried over from the Sandy Graham sessions and re-recorded with vocalist Sylvia Smith. Sylvia has another showcase on “You Feel Good,” co-written (like “No One Home”) with Gale Garnett of “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine” fame. Ian Underwood anchors the song with his burbling synth part; other musicians on No One Home include the returning Paulinho da Costa and Oscar Brashear, plus Wah Wah Watson, Paul Jackson, Johnny Graham and Tim May on guitars, Byron Miller and Ed Watkins on bass, Jerome Richardson and Kim Richmond on woodwinds, Leon “Ndugu” Chancler and Alex Acuna on drums, and Ronnie Foster, Patrice Rushen and Lalo on keyboards.

The emotional high point of No One Home may well be “Memory of Love.” Featuring Sandy Graham’s lone remaining lead vocal, a second lead from Virginia Ayers and an exquisite piano solo from Patrice Rushen, the softly rhythmic, beguiling ballad is further notable for its lyrics penned by Dr. Maya Angelou. (In 1979, Schifrin and Angelou would co-write an off-Broadway musical, And Still I Rise.)

Despite its R&B feel and high caliber of material, No One Home only mustered a chart appearance on the Jazz survey, reaching No. 39. Like Gypsies, it’s ripe for rediscovery today. This expanded edition, featuring another superb essay from A. Scott Galloway and remastering by Phil Kinrade, adds both the single edit and an instrumental version of “No One Home.”

Both Gypsies and No One Home – testaments to the enduring talent of the great Lalo Schifrin and true snapshots of a particular place and time – are available now from Demon Music Group and Tabu Records!