Moe Koffman had a career which pretty much paralleled that of Herbie Mann. Both flautists played bebop in the 50s, were drawn to R&B in the late 60s, released exactly one Kozmigroov album each in the early 70s, and then faltered in the commercial pop fusion environments of the late 70s. Koffman's album of choice is Solar Explorations, a double lp of nine tracks with titles corresponding to the nine planets in this solar system.  Obvious yeah, but far preferable to his early 70s conceptual missteps in blending jazz with Bach or Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  David Axelrod, these ain't. On Solar Explorations, some of the larger ensemble pieces ("Saturn", "Uranus") resemble a more kozmik Boss Brass-- unsurprising with the guest appearances of both Rob McConnell and Guido Basso.  Better are the octet recordings, which are dominated by Koffman on flute, Sonny Greenwich on guitar and Doug Riley on Fender Rhodes.  The tastiest cuts are designated by "Earth" (atonal free electronic interludes alternating with fierce percussive sections), "Mars" (great middle section tribute to Rod Serling) and "Venus" (anchored by a near-serialist bassline doubled on ARP and a jerky funk rhythm.)  Despite what the beat merchants may tell ya, I'd avoid later Koffman albums such as Jungle Man and Museum Pieces.  They're not that wild and jeez, that Metalworks drum sound is just plain embarrassing. [DW]

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[anonymous]