Dreams was an American

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and keyb ...

group, which was one of the original prominent bands of the genre in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The band was formed by Jeff Kent and

Doug Lubahn Douglas Lubahn (December 20, 1947 – November 20, 2019) was an American psychedelic rock and jazz rock bassist who played with internationally famous bands. His work is featured on three albums recorded by The Doors. Brief history In 1965, ...

, who wrote and arranged their songs. It began as a trio and evolved into a horn-based band over time. They were later joined by

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper ...

Don Grolnick Don Grolnick (September 23, 1947 – June 1, 1996) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He was a member of the groups Steps Ahead and Dreams, both with Michael Brecker, and played often with the Brecker Brothers. As a ses ...

, Bob Mann, and Eddie Vernon. Dreams selected as their producer, composer and sound engineer, Fred Weinberg, whose work included albums for Eddie Palmieri,

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...

, La Lupe, Mongo Santamaria,

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during ...

, Illustration (

Alan Lorber Alan Lorber is an American music arranger, record producer, and composer. References Record producers from New York (state) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American music arra ...

's group), and Little Anthony.

Phil Ramone Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business part ...

, another highly respected producer and studio owner, for whom Weinberg worked at the time at a studio named A & R in New York City, gave his blessings to Weinberg to record and mix the Dreams LP with former Atlantic A-1 engineer Jim Reeves at CBS Studios in New York City. During the Dreams sessions the recording sessions were moved by CBS execs to their CBS Chicago Studios because the CBS 52nd street studios became booked for several weeks by Paul Simon, and because Dreams had a deadline for their LP release. The album received a full page ad and a favorable review in Billboard Magazine. Dreams' second and final album ''Imagine My Surprise'' was produced in Memphis by

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as O ...

. Cropper wanted to "help the audience to better understand the group" so in his production he put "funkier, more commercial rhythms behind he band while trying to "keep jazz up front at the same time." While Dreams did not achieve the commercial success of either

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

or Blood Sweat & Tears, they served as a launchpad for eventually prominent

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

artists

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Moder ...

, and Randy &

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of ...

(later known as the

Brecker Brothers The Brecker Brothers were a jazz fusion music duo consisting of siblings Michael and Randy. Michael played saxophone, flute, and EWI, and Randy played trumpet and flugelhorn. The brothers attended Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsyl ...

). Other prominent band members included guitarist John Abercrombie, trombonist Barry Rogers, guitarist Bob Mann (who later joined

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

) and bassist Will Lee. One of the principal differences between Dreams and most other brass-infused bands was Dream's emphasis on spontaneity. The horn section would "work up spontaneous arrangements by jamming, always leaving them wide open to interpretations from night to night."

Discography

* ''Dreams'' (

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

, 1970) * ''Imagine My Surprise'' (Columbia, 1971)

References

External links

* AllMusicGuide {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreams American jazz-rock groups Columbia Records artists