Rusty Bryant - Fire-Eater

All Music Guide

Just four long cuts, all between seven and ten minutes in length, on a session that has Bryant stretching out his meaty tone and improvisations a bit further than usual. This is respectable soul-jazz with a lot of funk, but no fusion, employing the tenor sax-organ-guitar-drums lineup. All of the material was written by Bryant or members of the quartet, and favors a laid-back groove that's on the slow side, except for "Mister S.," on which guitarist Wilbert Longmire has a particularly engaging solo. The album has been reissued, together with another 1971 session (Wildfire), on the single-disc CD reissue Legends of Acid Jazz: Rusty Bryant, Vol. 2.

- Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide