Prelude (Deodato album)

Prelude is the eighth studio album by Brazilian keyboardist Eumir Deodato, released in 1973. With the signature track "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" (an arrangement of the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey), Prelude also features one of the most heavily sampled drum breaks in the early hip hop cannon. The opening bars of September 13 features a legendary break beat used in many classic hip hop songs. The album can be categorised as classical-jazz fusion, thought by some as elevator music with a twist. Prelude would become the most successful recording for Deodato and CTI Records.

The album features guitarist John Tropea on three tracks, bassists Ron Carter and Stanley Clarke, and Billy Cobham on drums. The funk-influenced version of the "Introduction" from Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra, entitled "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)", won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and went to number two in the pop charts in the US, number three in Canada, and number seven in the UK. In 1977, the album was re-released briefly as 2001 with an alternate cover photo.

Later releases
This album was reissued on the Super Audio CD format in October 2017 by UK label Dutton Vocalion, Remastered in both Stereo and Surround Sound from the original analogue tapes by Michael J. Dutton and released as a 2-fer with 1973's "Deodato 2". The Surround Sound portion of the disc features the Quadraphonic mixes of both "Prelude" and "Deodato 2" made available for the first time in over 40 years.

Personnel

 * Eumir Deodato - piano, electric piano
 * Ron Carter - electric bass (solo on "Baubles, Bangles and Beads"), bass
 * Stanley Clarke - electric bass (solo on "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)")
 * Billy Cobham - drums
 * John Tropea - electric guitar (solo on "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)", "Baubles, Bangles and Beads", "September 13")
 * Jay Berliner - guitar (solo on "Spirit of Summer")
 * Airto Moreira - percussion
 * Ray Barretto - congas
 * Hubert Laws - flute (solo on "Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun")
 * John Frosk - trumpet
 * Marky Markowitz - trumpet
 * Joe Shepley - trumpet
 * Marvin Stamm - trumpet (solo on "Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun")
 * Wayne Andre - trombone
 * Garnett Brown - trombone
 * Paul Faulise - trombone
 * George Strakey - trombone
 * Bill Watrous - trombone
 * Jim Buffington - french horn
 * Peter Gordon - french horn
 * Phil Bodner - flute
 * George Marge - flute
 * Romeo Penque - flute
 * Max Ellen - violin
 * Paul Gershman - violin
 * Emanuel Green - violin
 * Harry Lookofsky - violin
 * David Nadien - violin
 * Gene Orloff - violin
 * Eliot Rosoff - violin
 * Emanuel Vardi - viola
 * Al Brown - viola
 * Harvey Shapiro - cello
 * Seymore Barab - cello
 * Charles McKracken - cello

Production

 * Producer: Creed Taylor
 * Arranged and conducted by Eumir Deodato
 * Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
 * Recorded at Van Gelder Studios