AMG Review of Burchfield Nines

Steve Matteo
All Music Guide

Recruiting an entire new lineup of jazz pros, Michael Franks came up with an album with a West Coast jazz base but a New York sensibility. Lyrically a natural follow-up to the slyly suggestive The Art of Tea and featuring less pronounced orchestration than his previous effort, thanks to producer Eumir Deodato, Franks took full advantage of rhythm players Will Lee, Ralph McDonald and Steve Gadd, to make an even funkier record than in the past. Songs like "When the Cookie Jar Is Empty," "Wrestle a Live Nude Girl" and "In Search of the Perfect Shampoo" are all sensually playful songs that fully captured the erotic yet innocent '70s-era of free love with a romantic sense of humor. Not as ambitious as his previous Sleeping Gypsy, but a continuation of his ongoing experimentation with different players and a consolidation of his unique songwriting style.