Cosmos Nucleus by Carlos Garnett
Carlos Garnett’s Cosmos Nucleus was overlooked and considered anomalous when released in 1976. On the opening track, the music sounds like a big band in play with disco; afterwards, Cosmos is funky but not narrowly funk, jazz but not fusion, occasionally spacey yet always grounded. The vinyl reissue is an opportunity for most of us to hear it for the first time. For this session, saxophonist Carlos Garnett led an eight-member band plus an 18-piece horn section, holding loose grooves in dynamic arrangements and conjuring exotic soundscapes. Afro-Caribbean rhythms were evident on the catchy “Wise Old Man,” with Garnett taking lead vocals. Cheryl P. Alexander sings on the soulful jam “Mystery of Ages.” Garnett’s music slips in and around boundaries in many moods, engaging the imagination as well as the body.
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