Abraham Laboriel was a revelation upon his arrival on the thriving Los Angeles session scene in the mid ’70s. As the first studio bass player to bring an international perspective to his grooves, Laboriel introduced an array of innovative techniques, including flamenco strums and slaps; spirited slides, trills, and whoops; and two-handed fingerboard forays that pushed the limits of bass coordination. But dead ahead lay the track that would challenge even a man of Abraham’s creative means. “Waterwings,” written by keyboardist Don Grusin for the studio supergroup Friendship, appears on the band’s only studio album, the eponymously titled Friendship [1979, Elektra]. It’s a standout among a career of standout tracks because it pretty much includes all of Laboriel’s signature moves, as well as a killer vocal component. Oh, it also involves a made-up language by Abraham. We got an inside look at the piece from the man himself, and from Don Grusin. By the time Friendship coales