Simba is one hot album of funky soul-jazz.
O'Donel Levy had played with
Richard "Groove" Holmes and
Jimmy McGriff on other albums for producer
Sonny Lester's Groove Merchant label, and even had one released under his own name (
Black Velvet), but this was something different.
Black Velvet had a couple
Levy originals, but relied heavily on cover tunes. For
Simba,
Lester brought in
Manny Albam to supply both the tunes and the arrangements, and it makes all the difference in the world. The songs are catchy and funky, and play to
Levy's strengths as a player. The arrangements are fantastic, played by a who's who list of '70s session men (including a young
David Sanborn and
Tony Levin, who throws down throughout). It's a shame that the
Albam/
Levy partnership didn't last longer, because later in the same year
Levy had a follow-up (
Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky) without
Albam, and it was back to another album of unremarkable covers.
Simba is the
O'Donel Levy album to own.