Pieces Of A Dream are something what one would call a veteran group. They were founded in 1976 by keyboardist James Lloyd, drummer Curtis Harmon and former bassist Cedric Napoleon. This is by all means a long time and it seems even longer judged by today's casted and talentless groups who may enjoy one or two hit and then sink into oblivion.
No Assembly Required, the third release for Pieces Of A Dream on Heads Up, is a pleasant record that certainly can be labelled as Smooth Jazz but it has some songs that may appeal to fans of other music genres as well.
There's the very good cover version of Earth, Wind & Fire's Devotion with Tracy Hamlin on vocals that for me stands out as one of the hightlights.
The other ten tracks on offer are instrumentals, a fact which may be a pity if you're a fan of vocals like me and if you consider Tracy's voice. But then songs like Want A Piece Of This?, Who U Wit?, Dyse It Up or Yeah Baby have a nice funky groove done in a Down To The Bone way completeted with some fine saxophone play by Eddie Baccus Jr., Jason Davis respectively Jeff Robbins, that gives this album a greater variety.
James Lloyd says about Dyse It Up: "That was one that I co-wrote with David Dyson, a bass player we work with when Gerald Veasley, our regular bassist, isn't available. I got David into the studio and we collaborated on a few things, and Dyse It Up was one of them. It was something a little different - a bass lead, but mixed with a sax. Its something that would be really fun to play live."
Songs like Swerve or Summer with it's tingling keys or the somehow esoteric beauty of Lunar Lullaby are more what you might associate with the Smooth Jazz genre. Music that's quite perfect to sit back and relax after a hard day's work.
The approach behind No Assembly Requires was as Lloyd puts it: "We wanted to try to gather some new listeners and expand our audience a little bit. That was basically the vibe - just get as creative as possible, follow some of the rules, and break a few of them as well."
Well, I think he and his band member have reached their objective.