Between 1978 and 1986, Bay Area-born composer-pianist Rodney Franklin released eight albums for Columbia Records.  Flourishing in the period where jazz met R&B and funk head-on, Franklin charted seven singles in the United States and scored one major hit in the United Kingdom (1980's "The Groove").  Now, Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint has collected all eight of his Columbia albums on two CD sets, four albums per set.

Having had the opportunity to meet such legendary jazz figures as Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington, Franklin honed his craft at the piano from a young age.  As a teen, he played with Herbie Hancock's bandmates and accompanied greats like trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and vocalist Marlena Shaw.  George Butler, formerly of Blue Note and then heading Columbia's jazz department, spotted the young man at a cocktail party and signed him to the label at the age of nineteen.

For his label debut In the Center, Franklin was surrounded by the A-list including Hubbard and Oscar Brashear on flugelhorn, the Seawind horn section, flautist Ernie Watts, percussionists Victor Feldman and Paulinho Da Costa, drummer John Guerin, guitarist Dennis Budimir of The Wrecking Crew, and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro.  Butler produced the sessions himself, enlisting composer Bernard Ighner of "Everything Must Change" fame for a couple of songs as well as background vocal duties.  Byron Olsen contributed a suite to the second side of the LP, and Franklin filled out the LP with his own sizzling compositions.  Alternately mellow and funky, In the Center exemplified a fresh fusion sound with its melding of jazz, soul, funk, pop, and classical.  It was followed by 1980's You'll Never Know, produced by legendary string arranger Paul Buckmaster (Elton John, David Bowie).  Buckmaster added orchestral grandeur to the tracks which featured Franklin leading a tight band.  Singer Phyllis St. James joined Franklin on a couple of songs including the title track and closing "Parkay Man," adding to the variety of an LP which also featured solo piano turns and the percolating, danceable yet smooth hit "The Groove."  The single version of "The Groove" has been added as a bonus track.

The second disc of Robinsongs' first collection opens with 1980's Rodney Franklin, rush-released to capitalize on the growing success of "The Groove."  With Butler again among the producers (also including Tom Tom 84), the sound was closer to his first Columbia LP, featuring the returning Feldman, Porcaro, Watts, Budimir, Hubbard, Brashear and Da Costa plus Phyllis St. James from the second album, Phil Upchurch on guitar, and keyboardist Ian Underwood (who had played with Frank Zappa).  Tom Tom 84, a.k.a. Tom Washington, had worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, and brought some of EWF's expansive flavor to Franklin's latest album.  Washington wrote the opening "Windy City," a brassy, strutting jam, and Franklin revisited Bernard Ighner's "I Like the Music Make It Hot" in a new chart.  Robinsongs' set concludes with Endless Flight, named for an Upchurch tune (on which he also played).  Washington produced and arranged the entire album, emphasizing even more vocals and Latin styles.  A cover of the theme to television's Hill Street Blues saw the artist trying to expand his reach.

Franklin's final four Columbia albums are brought together on Robinsongs' second 2-CD set.  Following the artistically successful but commercially disappointing collaboration with Tom Washington, Columbia brought in jazz hero Stanley Clarke to produce 1982's Learning to Love.  Already a true fusion legend, Clarke played bass on three tracks and assembled the crack band including Tom Scott, Nathan East, Paul Jackson, Jr., Todd Cochran, John Robinson, Abe Laboriel, and drummers and percussionists Alphonse Mouzon, Ndugu Chancler, and Alex Acuna from Weather Report.  Variety was key to the LP as it veered from romantic balladry to funky fusion workouts and even a jazz cover of Christopher Cross' "Sailing."  Franklin returned to the suite format of his very first album with a five-composition epic here.   The formula was a success, giving the artist his most successful album since You'll Never Know.  Clarke, naturally, was once again enlisted for 1984's Marathon.  Keeping with the times, Franklin and his producer embraced a modern sound with cool synths, sequencers, and metallic drum machines.  It wasn't all steely, however; the vocal ballad "Love Is the Answer" had acoustic instruments and orchestration, and Clarke always left room for the talented musicians (including the guest Ronnie Laws on soprano sax of the title track) to breathe.

Surprisingly, Paul Buckmaster was back for Skydance.  Daryl Coley (one of the singers on "Love Is the Answer") again lent his talents, as did Phyllis St. James; the relatively short album had just six tracks including the joyful "Fiesta" and tender "Song for You" (not the Leon Russell song but rather a Franklin original).  The final album on this collection is one of its most intriguing.  1986's It Takes Two was a collaborative effort with French composer-arranger-producer Michel Colombier.  Brenda Russell and saxophonist Gerald Albright shone on "Look What's Showing Through" from "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" writer Eddie Schwartz.  "Broken Wings" reinvented the recent Mr. Mister pop hit, and "Rollin' in Our Love" paired Franklin with singer Elizabeth Lamers.  Appropriately, the guest-filled album concluded with him on piano for the understated plea to "Let There Be Peace."

These eight albums, pulsing with energy and musical invention, represent the core of Franklin's discography.  He went on to record two further albums in 1988 and 1992, but those remain his final works as a leader; he hasn't appeared on any new recordings in the 21st century.   Charles Waring has provided the liner notes in both of Robinsongs' releases, and Alan Wilson has remastered both.  You can find them at the links below!

Rodney Franklin, In the Center/You'll Never Know/Rodney Franklin/Endless Flight (Cherry Red/Robinsongs ROBIN39CDD, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

In the Center (Columbia JC 35558, 1978)

1. Spanish Flight
2. Yours
3. I Like the Music Make It Hot
4. On the Path
5. Festival (First Movement)
6. Sunrise (Second Movement)
7. May Lady (Third Movement)
8. Life Moves On

You'll Never Know (Columbia JC 36122, 1980)

9. Felix Lee
10. God Bless the Blues
11. The Watcher
12. Journey
13. The Groove
14. You'll Never Know
15. Return
16. Parkay Man
17. The Groove (Single Version) (Columbia single 1-11252, 1980)

CD 2:

Rodney Franklin (Columbia JC 36747, 1980)

1. Windy City
2. Life Moves On
3. In the Center
4. Awakening
5. I Like the Music Make It Hot
6. Theme for Jackie
7. On the Path
8. Creation

Endless Flight (Columbia FC 37154, 1981)

9. Dance Tonight
10. Cancion Para Mi Mama
11. Vibrations
12. Benetta
13. Morning Light (Reprise from Dance Tonight)
14. Endless Flight
15. Mensaje de Dios
16. Return to the Source
17. Theme from Hill Street Blues
18. Cancion Para Mi Mama (Epilogue)

Rodney Franklin, Learning to Love/Marathon/Skydance/It Takes Two (Cherry Red/Robinsongs ROBIN40CDD, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

Learning to Love (Columbia FC 38198, 1982)

1. Enuff Is Enuff
2. That's the Way I Feel 'Bout Your Love
3. Sunshine
4. Don't Wanna Let You Go
5. Sailing
6. Genesis/New Day/Nature's Way/Early Morning/Let There Be Light
7. Learning to Love
8. Enuff Is Enuff (Theme from the film One Down, Two to Go)

Marathon (Columbia FC 38953, 1984)

9. Stay on in the Groove
10. Marathon
11. Love Is the Answer
12. Let's Talk
13. Searchin' For
14. Lumiere
15. Reflection of a Dream

CD 2

Skydance (Columbia FC 39962, 1985)

1. Fiesta
2. Destiny
3. Song for You
4. Children
5. One from the Heart
6. Skydance

It Takes Two (Columbia FC 40307, 1986)

7. Motion
8. Look What's Showing Through
9. Broken Wings
10. The Eagle and the Condor
11. It Takes Two
12. Rollin' In Our Love
13. My Wish
14. Let There Be Peace