The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire (CD - 2002)

Earth, Wind & Fire: Maurice White (vocals, kalimba, timbales, drums); Verdine White (vocals, bass, percussion); Philip Bailey (vocals, congas, percussion); Larry Dunn (piano, organ, synthesizer, programming).

Additional personnel includes: Ken Yerke, Harris Goldman (violin); Rollice Dale (viola); Dennis Karmazyn Harry Schultz (cello); Fred Jackson Jr., Herman Riley, Jerome Richardson (saxophone); Tommy Johnson (tuba); Harvey Mason, Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Beloyd Taylor (background vocals).

Producers: Maurice White, Joe Wissert, Charles Stepney, Al McKay.

Compilation producers: Leo Sacks, Maurice White.

Recorded between 1973 & 1983. Includes liner notes by Leo Sacks, Virginia Prescott, and William C, Rhoden.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Columbia/Legacy's double-disc set The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire lives up to its title by offering 34 tracks of the groundbreaking funk band at its peak. All of the hits, whether they're R&B or tunes that crossed over to the pop charts, are here, along with important album tracks that capture the range and depth of EWF. Since this focuses on their peak of the '70s and early '80s, there's very little here that doesn't qualify as "essential," which makes it a better bet than their box set. The single-disc Greatest Hits remains the choice for the casual and the curious listener due to its concise concentration of classics, but anybody who wants a thorough retrospective should choose this. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

"These songs are as close as we came to perfection," says group founder and leader Maurice White in the liner notes to THE ESSENTIAL EARTH, WIND & FIRE. Given the quality of the music in this double-disc package, it's hard to argue. Remarkable for both its commercial success and its inventive hybrid of funk, soul, jazz, and African folk music (White's kalimba is featured as a solo instrument on "Evil," for example), Earth, Wind & Fire are deservedly regarded as one of the finest ensembles of the 1970s.

A thorough retrospective of the band's evolution and multiple stylistic directions (often achieved within one song), ESSENTIAL spans from the early, earthy funk of "Mighty Mighty" to the disco-flavored "Boogie Wonderland" (with the Emotions). In between are all of the group's smash hits--the infectious "Shining Star," the feel-good "Sing a Song," their jazzy interpretation of Lennon/McCartney's "Got to Get You Into My Life," and the early '80s dance-floor favorite "Let's Groove," to name a few. Throughout, complex horn parts, rich vocal harmonies, and the formidable chops of the band's instrumentalists dazzle on ballads, heady improvisations, and funk workouts alike. This is the definitive compilation of one soul's mightiest groups. minimize