Throughout most of the 1960s, Patrick Williams was one of many composers/arrangers kicking around the NYC studio music scene. In the late ’60s he arranged/composed several Muzak-molded LPs (Heavy Vibrations , Think and Shades of Today among them) that only occasionally hinted at the ebullience and brilliance unleashed on his 1974 Grammy Award winning album Threshold. Perhaps due to his nationally successful composing/arranging credits for both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show (from 1970 and 1972, respectively), he was able to compose/arrange and finance Threshold , his pet project, that featured big band jazz/rock/classical compositions and stellar soloists that swung like mad. The title opus, “Threshold,” begins with a Bach-like brass chorale fanfare that is alternatively juxtaposed with and contrasted against a funk/rock theme with swirling flutes (all multi-tracked by Tom Scott). The catchy and infectious 8-note motive is developed and morphed into some beautifully lyrical lines by both Stamm and Scott. Then finally after both choruses, Williams has the entire band wail on his own written development of the the motive. (Try listening to this cut just once.) [Source]
