Strikes Twice/Sleepwalk/Friends

BGO's 2015 three-fer combines three albums guitarist Larry Carlton recorded for Warner in the early '80s: Strikes Twice and Sleepwalk, both from 1981, and 1983's Friends. All three are cut from the same fusion cloth: something slick, mellow, and funky with a decided R&B edge. Of the three, Friends gets a little funkier at times -- largely due to B.B. King guesting on "Blues for TJ" -- but it also sees glassy synths creeping into the mix. The other two records simmer warmly to their well-contoured curves, Carlton providing the heat with his full-blooded leads. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine