In his all-too-short life, guitarist Eric Gale (1938-1994) made his mark on the worlds of jazz, rock, R&B, and pop, leading his own jazz ensembles and contributing as a session musician to countless classic records by Paul Simon, The Drifters, Billy Joel, and Aretha Franklin, among others.  Cherry Red’s Robinsongs imprint has recently taken stock of the late Gale’s legacy of lithe, liquid guitar lines with a 2-CD release, The Definitive Collection.

The Brooklyn-born musician ultimately recorded twelve albums as a leader in his life, between 1973’s Forecast on CTI’s Kudu imprint, and 1998’s Utopia on Japan’s Rooms Records (recorded in 1991).  Though he studied chemistry in school, Gale found his true calling in his early 20s when he was invited to play guitar on Bobby Lewis’ “Tossin’ and Turnin’.”  The chart-topping classic opened the door for Gale to perform on records by King Curtis, Solomon Burke, Jackie Wilson, and others.  By the late ’60s, he’d made the acquaintance of Creed Taylor, who quickly took on Gale as the virtual “house guitarist” of his CTI label.  CTI shared with Gale an ability to fuse disparate styles together, bringing R&B, pop and classical sensibilities to jazz.  It was at CTI that Gale recorded his debut as a leader, Forecast; four songs from that LP, including the originals “Forecast” and “Tonsue Corte” and covers of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Dindi” and Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel’s “Killing Me Softly,” are featured on this collection.

Gale’s diverse musical interests next took him to Jamaica, where he wrote, arranged and recorded the self-titled album Negril with a group of the area’s finest musicians.  Upon his return to the United States, he joined the jazz fusion supergroup Stuff alongside fellow session pros like Richard Tee and Steve Gadd.  His second proper solo album finally arrived in 1977 as his first of four LPs for Columbia Records.  All six tracks from Ginseng Woman – including a funky reggae take on Hall and Oates’ “Sara Smile” and the languid groove of “Red Ground” which bears the hallmark of the album’s producer and Gale’s onetime CTI labelmate Bob James – are reprised on this collection as well as five songs out of six from its follow-up, Multiplication which like its predecessor featured the distinctive sound of Grover Washington Jr. on saxophone.

1979’s Part of You emphasized the R&B side of Gale, produced by Ralph MacDonald.  Three tracks have been culled from that set, which featured Stuff bandmates Richard Tee and Steve Gadd on the disco-ready “Let-Me-Slip-It-To-You” and Washington and Dave Grusin on “Lookin’ Good.”  The versatile Gale played bass on “Lookin’ Good” and other tracks on the LP.  New Orleans’ renowned Allen Toussaint produced Gale’s final Columbia outing, 1980’s Touch of Silk.  Toussaint’s original songs “Touch of Silk” and “You Got My Life in Your Hands” are included on this set, along with Gale’s gutsy cover of Charlie Parker’s “Au Privave.”

The Definitive Collection also draws on Gale’s tenure for Elektra (1982’s Blue Horizon and 1983’s Island Breeze) as well as a guest appearance with pal Tee on his 1980 outing on Bob James’ Tappan Zee label, Natural Ingredients.  What all of these tracks have in common – whether mellow grooves or rousing floor-fillers – is Gale’s fleet, smooth touch and impeccable musicianship as soloist and leader.   This compilation features new liner notes by Lois Wilson and full musician credits for each album – though the credits, oddly, don’t list which songs are derived from which albums.  Alan Wilson has handled the mastering.  Though Gale passed away in 1994 of lung cancer, his tremendous recorded  repertoire remains vital.  This absorbing tribute to a musical master is available at the links below!

Eric Gale, The Definitive Collection (Cherry Red/Robinsongs ROBIN17CDD, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Forecast
2. Dindi
3. Tonsue Corte
4. Killing Me Softly with His Song
5. Foots
6. My Sweetness
7. Sara Smile
8. Ginseng Woman
9. Red Ground
10. East End, West End
11. She is My Lady
12. De Rabbit
13. Thumper
14. Multiplication

CD 2

1. Morning Glory
2. Gypsy Jello
3. Oh Mary Don’t You Weep
4. Part of You
5. Lookin’ Good
6. Let-Me-Slip-It-To-You
7. Tell It Like It Is – Richard Tee featuring Eric Gale
8. You Got My Life in Your Hands
9. Touch of Silk
10. Au Privave
11. Blue Horizon
12. Mako D’Amour
13. I Know That’s Right

CD 1, Tracks 1-4 from Forecast, CTI/Kudu, 1973
CD 1, Tracks 5-6 from Stuff, Warner Bros., 1976
CD 1, Tracks 7-12 from Ginseng Woman, Columbia, 1977
CD 1, Tracks 13-14 & CD 2, Tracks 1-3 from Multiplication, Columbia, 1977
CD 2, Tracks 4-6 from Part of You, Columbia, 1979
CD 2, Track 7 from Richard Tee, Natural Ingredients, Tappan Zee, 1980
CD 2, Tracks 8-10 from Touch of Silk, Columbia, 1980
CD 2, Tracks 11-12 from Blue Horizon, Elektra, 1982
CD 2, Track 13 from Island Breeze, Elektra, 1983