This album is not what you expect. Edgar is Johnny Winter's brother and organ/piano player—yet this album is definitely not blues or rock 'n roll. The closest classification that fits is free-form jazz—but even that, while explaining the musical framework, doesn't take into account Edgar's distinctive vocal style. He sounds like Mose Allison on some cuts ("Back in the Blues") but on most of the album Edgar's frenetic, high-pitched vocal style is all his own and very effective with the bebop-type lyrics (authored by the Winters) that most of the cu's contain.

The album is divided into two sections. The first side, entitled "Winter's Dream," features seven cuts that slide into and out of each other nicely and work effectively as a musical statement. Highlights are Edgar's vocal work-out on "Where Have You Gone," his sax solo on the extended "Fire and Ice" segment and brother Johnny's harp-playing on "Back in the Blues." While tight and together, this side does suffer from an occasional excess of strings and horns, that in many cases don't add a thing to what is, or could be, happening without them. But, in most cases, Edgar prevails.

The second side opens with the most exciting version of that old war-horse "Tobacco Road" I've heard in a long while. Johnny plays guitar on this one and Edgar sings with more fervor than I believed possible, besides playing sax and organ. Two tour-de-force jazz-shaded cuts on this side really pull things around. "Peace Pipe" opens with an "Eleanor Rigby" type organ riff on top of a scat vocal and then drives along with theme changes that eventually come back to a scat vocal/Rigby-ish close. The other jazz cut, entitled "Jimmy's Gospel," features a demonstration of just how well Edgar can play alto sax. This instrumental is a mellow yet forthright explosion that is the essence of this album, even though it comes last.

Had his brother not been such an overnight music phenomena, Edgar would probably never have had the opportunity to assemble an album. And, even though this one is a little overdone in spots, one hopes that another is forthcoming soon. (RS 65)

GARY VON TERSCH