Hungarian born jazz guitarist Gabor Szabo arrived in America in the late 1950s, having fled the anti-communist uprising in his homeland. By the early 1960s, he had begun to establish himself as one of jazz's rising stars, joining drummer Chico Hamilton's group in 1960. He left Hamilton in 1965 and briefly played in a group co-led with tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd before going out on his own as a solo artist. Between 1965 and 1977, he recorded a string of solo albums for the Impulse, Blue Thumb, Skye, CTI and Mercury labels. Faces, recorded for Mercury in 1977, is very much a jazz-fusion album. Produced by trombonist and ex-Crusader Wayne Henderson, the rhythm section was drawn from the soul-jazz-funk band Pleasure with whom Henderson was working at the Fantasy label. The music is built on irresistible, earthy funk grooves that allow Szabo plenty of space to spin long, elegant guitar lines and meticulously constructed solos, both of which were his trademarks. Largely overlooked on its original release, Faces is now revealed as a minor classic within the jazz-fusion genre.
Includes an 8-page booklet with extensive biographical information and the stories behind the albums.
Remastered from the original analogue tapes. First time on CD.

Faces
The original LP SRM-1-1141 (1977) STEREO

The Biz (Lyle)
Magic Mystic Faces (Szabo; James)
Gloomy Day (Henderson; James)
Desiring You (Jeffery)
Misty Malarky Ying Yang (McClain)
Alicia (Szabo; Totth)
The Last Song (Szabo)
Estaté (Martino; Brighetti)

Bonus tracks
The original single 73957 (1977) STEREO

The Biz (Lyle) edited version
Alicia (Szabo; Totth) edited version

Personnel:
Gabor Szabo (acoustic guitar)
Bobby Lyle (electric piano)
Marlon McClain (electric guitar)
Nathaniel Phillips (bass guitar)
Bruce Carter (drums)
Vance Tenort (percussion)
Dean Gant (synthesizer programming)
Rini Kramer (cabasa/vibraslap [4] & guiro [7])
James Stewart (acoustic guitar [8])

Violins: Paul Shure (concertmaster), Bonnie Douglas,
Assa Drori, Irving Geller, Irma Neumann, Haim Shtrum,
Carroll Stephens (contractor), Robert Sushel
Violas: James Dunham, Janet Lakatos
Cellos: Nathan Gershman, David Speltz
Trumpets: Oscar Brashear, Denny Christianson
Trombone: George Bohannon
Tenor sax: Ernie Watts
Background vocals: Sylvia St. James, Deborah Shotlow,
Saundra Alexander, Cheryl Alexander

“ Jazz of a funkier hue can be found on the super-slick 1977 album Faces, originally recorded for Mercury by Hungarian guitar maestro Gabor Szabo. The set is helmed by ex-Crusader, the late Wayne Henderson, who provides elegant grooves over which the fretboard sorcerer weaves his magic.”
Charles Waring, Record Collector magazine, March 2015