THE SOUND OF PURPLE

Is it Prince or isn’t it? Last fall a few of us reported that Prince’s next project would be an all-instrumental jazz-fusion album. Now the Purple One’s Paisley Park label is releasing an all-instrumental, “jazz-fusion” album titled “8” by Madhouse. The group is led by saxophonist Eric Leeds, an ex-Prince & the Revolution sideman.

Prince fans already have been rushing out to record stores to buy the album’s first single (“6”), expecting to hear Purple prowess. But is he actually on the record?

Yes, says Minneapolis Star-Tribune pop critic Jon Bream, a longtime Prince watcher. “No question about it--his name won’t be on the album, but he’s definitely musically involved in the project. Leeds plays all the sax parts, of course, but Prince plays some of the other instruments, though there may be lots of other musicians involved as well.”

However, Prince’s management firm insists that its star is “not” on the record. Said manager Steve Fargnoli, “Prince is only involved in Madhouse to the extent that the group is on his label, Paisley Park Records.”