An essential document of the great soulful side of The Crusaders – that wonderful stretch when they started inviting singers to work along with their groove – further expanding their music into great territory for the 80s! There were some folks who wrinkled their nose at this at the time – thought it was a jazz group selling out by adding singers. But to us, it was a brilliant move – as The Crusaders already had a strongly soul-influenced groove – one that any vocalist would more than be happy to work with. Singers here include Bobby Womack, Flora Purim, Randy Crawford, Tina Turner, Bill Withers, Nancy Wilson, Joe Cocker, and BB King – and titles include "Better Not Look Down", "Hold On", "Help", "Soul Shadows", "The Way It Goes", "Burnin Up The Carnival", "Street Life", and "This Old World's Too Funky For Me". ~ Dusty Groove
A groovy bossa gem from the glory days of A&M Records – an ultra-hip group recorded with production by Sergio Mendes! The feel here is a lot like that of Brasil 66 – bossa rhythms, sunny CA instrumentation, and lovely female vocals – in this case sung singularly, by the lovely Gracinha Leporace – aka Mrs Mendes! Instrumentation is arguably even better than on Brasil 66 records – with wonderfully groovy organ lines from Manfredo Fest, who plays Lowrey organ instead of the usual Hammond. A really essential slice of bossa nova – and a record we'd never part with! Filled with wonderful tunes that include "Gentle Rain", "Up Up & Away", "Wave", "Do You Know The Way To San Jose", "Cacao do Sal", "Veleiro", "Saiupa", and "Nana". ~ Dusty Groove
Dance diva Rozalla Miller shot to fame in the early 90s with Everybody’s Free – now she’s back with her first jazz album. Tracks include: "Broken Stones", ""Signs", "Step By Step", " Heard It All Before", "Brand New Version", "Until The End", ""For Lovers", "Over Again", "Trust", "The Love That We Had", as well as the bonus track (and remake of course of ) "Everybody’s Free".
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