''Ennea'' was the second album by jazz-rock band

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. It did not repeat the commercial success of their debut album ''

''. The original lineup from the first album was changed midway through the recording sessions, with Gary Smith taking over from Jay Burrid on drums and G. G. Shinn replacing Terry Richards on lead vocals. Sessions for the recording occurred August 31, 1971, at CBS/Columbia Studios in San Francisco and again between November 15-December 8th, 1971. The cost of the album went $120,000.00 over budget. The six songs on side two of the album comprise a progressive-jazz/rock suite entitled "Ennea", with lyrics based on

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. The album's title is the Greek word for nine, a reference to the nine band members. The lyrics to the suite were written by

Bill Chase Bill Chase (October 20, 1934 – August 9, 1974) was an American trumpeter and leader of the jazz-rock band Chase (band), Chase. Biography Bill Chase was born William Edward Chiaiese on October 20, 1934, to an Italian-American family in Squ ...

's longtime lady companion Erin Adair. The tune "Cronus" was originally used as an instrumental. The single "So Many People" (written by Paul Williams and performed by both him and The Neighborhood) saw limited airplay in the U.S. The album charted for just 12 weeks, peaking at #71

Part of the song "Cronus" was featured in the intro to the

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show "Magazyn Kryminalny 997". Swanee River, which opens the album, was originally entitled "Closer to the feeling" and was going to have a quasi-Allman Bros. flavor, but the lyrics had yet to be written. When GG Shinn was listening to the playbacks in the studio, he noted the chord changes were the same as Stephen Foster's immortal 'Way down upon the Suwanee River' so the title was altered. It Won't Be Long was penned by Organist Phil Porter and initially it was much slower and had more of an "Asian" feel. Charlie Brent, re-arranged the song for the band to feature a screaming Trumpet solo for Bill and highlight the brilliance of the Trumpets more. The songs 'Darkest Days' and 'Listen To Her Sing' were slated to be included on the album; however, original vocalist Terry Richards was fired in November 1971 before recordings were completed The album cover was photographed in December 1971 by renowned Rock photographer Jim Marshall at the Music Concourse Plaza in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

Reception

In his retrospective review for

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, critic Bruce Eder wrote that although the band's second album appeared with high expectations "Ennea fell so far short in critical reception and sales... What was lacking was balance—the rock and jazz elements that seemed so finely tuned together on the first album don't coexist as easily on this album... Ennea still has lots of good moments and some great ones—greater, at times, that anything on the first album if nowhere near as appealing and concise overall—and is still worth hearing."

Track listing

# "Swanee River" (

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, Bill Chase) – 3:10 # "So Many People" ( Paul Williams, R. Nichols) – 2:44 # "Night" (Ted Piercefield) – 2:38 # "It Won't Be Long" (Phil Porter, J. Soukup) – 3:06 # "I Can Feel It" (Angel South) – 2:51 # "Woman of the Dark" (T. Riley, T. Szollosi) – 5:56 # "Cronus (Saturn)" (Chase, Erin Adair, J. Palmer) – 4:46 # "Zeus (Jupiter)" (Chase, Adair) – 4:36 # "Poseidon (Neptune)" (Chase, Adair) – 2:27 # "Aphrodite Part I (Venus)" (Chase, Adair) – 2:02 # "Aphrodite Part II (Venus)" (Chase, Adair) – 3:36 # "Hades (Pluto)" (Chase, Adair) – 3:34

Personnel

- lead and solo trumpet * Ted Piercefield - trumpet, vocals on "Night" * Alan Ware - trumpet * Jerry Van Blair - trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

* Gary Smith -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

except as noted below * Dennis Keith Johnson -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Phil Porter Phil Porter (born 1977) is a British playwright, librettist and television writer. He is a graduate of the University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery18 ...

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

* Angel South -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* G. G. Shinn - vocals * Jay Burrid - drums on "So Many People," "Night," "Woman Of The Dark" * Terry Richards - vocals on "So Many People"

References

External links

''Ennea'' track credits at Discogs.com
{{Authority control 1972 albums Bill Chase albums Epic Records albums