Tarika Blue

Led by New York session player Phil Clendeninn, Tarika Blue was a lyrical, highly melodic fusion/jazz-funk outfit that had a small following (mostly on the East Coast) in the '70s. Clendeninn's combo wasn't as well known as Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes, but there are definite parallels between those two East Coast bands. Like the Cosmic Echoes, Tarika Blue favored a very spiritual, mystical approach that owed something to acoustic post-bop as well as soul, funk, pop, and rock. Tarika Blue shared the Cosmic Echoes' appreciation of modal post-bop heavyweights like Joh...