A sweet 80s set from Johnny Mathis – one of those great later albums when he brought a good deal of soul into the mix! The feel here is almost more modern R&B than the vocal jazz mode that first brought Johnny fame – and it turns out that the Mathis mode is wonderful for such a setting – rich and full of feeling, and arguably better than some of his younger contemporaries on the charts! The ballads are beautiful, but there's also a few surprising midtempo numbers – and titles include a sublime remake of "Love Won't Let Me Wait", done with Deniece Williams – plus "Love Never Felt So Good", "Simple", "Priceless", "One Love", "Right Here & Now", and "Lead Me To Your Love" – plus "You're A Special Part Of Me", a duet with Angie Bofill. CD features two bonus tracks – "Simple (single vocal)" and "Simple (inst)". ~ Dusty Groove
A warmly jazzy tribute to the music of Bruno Martino – the Italian songwriter who's best known for the famous "Estate" – but who also gave the world a host of other wonderful tunes over the years! The set's done in a sparkling Irma Records style – with backings from Papik that mix 60s retro modes with 21st Century production – often with instrumentation from a small jazzy combo that has great keyboards and horns. Most vocals are in Italian, although the set also features a few non-Martino numbers too – and singers vary from number to number, which adds a nice sense of variety to the set. Titles include "Estate", "Fai Male", "Che Peccato", "Al Di La", "Se Mai", "Cos'Hai Trovato In Lui", "Soli Tra La Gente", "Sabato Sera", and "Rimpiangerai". ~ Dusty Groove
A great contemporary tribute to Sun Ra – put together in ways that are a lot more sensitive than other projects of this nature! These young players really seem to get the sense of Ra's Arkestra as an ensemble – and work in ways here that really recall the best energy of the early Saturn recordings – even on a few original numbers by members of the group! We're not familiar with most of the players, but together they work wonderfully – in a lineup that includes Nikolaus Neuser on trumpet, Kathrin Lemke on alto, Dirk Steglich on tenor and flute, Gerhard Gschlossl on trombone,a nd Rui Gincel on piano and "spacekeys". Titles include "Future", "Images", "Ancient Aiethopia", "A Call For Demons", "Do To Voodoo", and "Watusa". ~ Dusty Groove
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