by Scott Yanow
After 1966, vibraphonist Dave Pike was primarily heard on European labels until he made his first album for Muse in 1975. His second effort for the label teams Pike with a variety of top L.A. players: Tom Ranier on electric piano (he plays alto on "Scrapple from the Apple"), guitarist Ron Eschete, bassist Luther Hughes, drummer Ted Hawke and the obscure Rudolph Johnson on tenor. There are some unaccompanied solos (Eschete on "Everytime We Say Goodbye," Ranier's keyboard on "Gigi" and Pike on "Visions of Spain") and a fair amount of variety in the rhythms (ranging from straight-ahead to Latin and rock), making this a generally unpredictable (if now hard-to-find) LP.