Surrounding himself with a world-class ensemble of
disco
-
jazz
fusion
musicians and armed with the
Mizell
brothers at the production console (who were near the peak of their careers around this time),
Gary Bartz
took the route of
Donald Byrd
and brought new elements of
funk
,
soul
, and a foreshadowing of the soon-to-be-commercial
craze all into a 40-minute workout on
Music Is My Sanctuary
. While purists shook their heads in disapproval and disdain at
Bartz
's new direction (one emulated by several
pioneers at the time), those who could take off their traditional
mufflers would find
and
the Mizells
making some highly infectious, soulful music. Further accentuated by the addition of
Syreeta Wright
on vocals,
took
into nearly uncharted territories for
musicians. The results of this experimentation more than paid off, with the dividends being
's most polished, focused releases. ~ Rob Theakston