Now Is the Time is the first Jeff Lorber album billed as a Jeff Lorber Fusion release since 1981's Galaxian.[1]
We all had a vision of what we wanted this record to be. We wanted a return to the sound of the Jeff Lorber Fusion, but informed by everything I’ve learned since then. This record is a clear statement. It represents a real musical shift toward something a little jazzier, and a little more exciting. The title has a very positive thrust to it, and it evokes a certain sense of being serious and taking charge.
The opening track, "Rain Dance/Wanna Fly", is one of several new versions of old Jeff Lorber Fusion tracks, this one was originally on the 1979 album Water Sign.[1] The original, an instrumental,[8] has been sampled by Lil' Kim on "Crush on You".[9] This version has lyrics written and sung by IreneB.[8]George Benson's touring drummer, Lil' John Roberts, plays on the album's second track, "Dr. Moy".[8] "Pixel" was penned by Lorber along with Bobby Colomby from Blood, Sweat & Tears and Jimmy Haslip from the Yellowjackets[8] and features the Blood, Sweat & Tears horn section.[4] "Sugar Free" features IreneB on vocals.[10]
"Mysterious Traveller" is a new arrangement of the Wayne Shorter penned song from the 1974 Weather Reportalbum of the same name.[5] This version highlights saxophonist Eric Marienthal.[4] "Curtains/Before We Go" is a new version of another old Jeff Lorber Fusion track that has been sampled by Nelly on "Pimp Juice".[9] This ballad[11] features IreneB on vocals.[10]
"Black Ice", a remake from the 1978 album Soft Space,[8] is highlighted with a Jimmy Haslip bass solo.[10] "Las Rosas" is another track co-written by Colomby and features Lorber on piano.[8] "Chinese Medicinal Herbs" is new version of old Jeff Lorber Fusion track from their first release.[8] "Water Sign" is another track that was previously released as an instrumental that has been updated with lyrics by IreneB.[8] The album's closing track, "Sumatra", features the Blood, Sweat & Tears horn section.[4]
Reception
Reviewer Howard Dukes called Now Is the Time a "listener's album" "with its radio friendly R&B songs and instrumentals that cover the scope of electrified jazz". He also commented that it is "refreshing to see how Lorber is willing to kick up the jazz quotient on [these] R&B influenced tunes".[11]
In All About Jazz, Eugene Holley, Jr. writes how the musicians "serve up a pleasing disc".[9] Also from All About Jazz, James Nadal calls the music "easy on the ears and accessible to a broad audience". He comments how the album "offers a variation of tempos" and that the songs "[flow] seamlessly from one to the next".[4]
Marvin Leon Lake, of The Virginian-Pilot calls the album "a successful endeavor" that "captures the improvisational energy of fusion, while infusing more jazz and R&B into Lorber’s tunes".[1] In Allmusic, Alex Henderson wrote that the album is not "the work of a jazz purist or a bop snob, but...has a jazz improviser's mentality" and called it "a fine album".[5]
