Tuesday, January 08, 2013

NEW RELEASES - FRANK MCCOMB, THE UNIVERSAL SOUND OF BURT BACHARACH, GREGG AUGUST

FRANK MCCOMB - THE FANS' FAVORITES: A DECADE OF MUSIC

A heck of a lot of music for one mighty nice price – a fan-selected collection of the best tracks from Frank McComb, packaged here with a bonus disc of rare material too! Frank's always been very plugged in to his followers – and for this collection, he went to his audience and asked them to pick their favorites – the kind of killer soul tracks that have made McComb one of the true underground soul legends of the modern age – a one-man powerhouse who's been able to create some of the best soul music we've heard in years, yet all without the help of a major label or distributor! The set features two full CDs of "favorites", plus a bonus CD with nine more cuts that are "shorties" and instrumentals pulled from Frank's vaults – all delivered with the sweet keyboard lines you'd expect. Titles include "The Bar On 55th & Hough", "White Line In The Sky", "Watching The One You Love", "King Of The Open Road", "Gotta Find My Way", "All You Need Is Love", "Morning Glory", "V 12", "Somebody Like You", "Cupid's Arrow", "Characters Of Our God", "Future Love", "Intimate Time", "Shine", and "The Thing I Failed To Do". 39 tracks in all!  ~ Dusty Groove

THE UNIVERSAL SOUND OF BURT BACHARACH  VOLUME 2 (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

A pretty cool little collection – a Japanese-only set that's filled with various versions of Burt Bacharach classics pulled from the vaults of Universal Music – including a rich array of 60s recordings we might have missed otherwise! The set appears to have been done in support of a 2008 Bacharach tribute tour, but all of the recordings are of older vintage – and the set includes a huge amount of rare numbers from the first years when Burt's music was getting out to the masses. Titles include "Forgive Me" by Babs Tino, "That's The Way I'll Come To You" by Jack Jones, "Rome Will Never Leave You" by Richard Chamberlain, "These Desperate Hours" by Mel Torme, "The Look Of Love" by Chris Montez, "Magic Moments" by Ronnie Aldrich, "This Guy's In Love With You" by Frankie Valli, "Alfie" by Dee Dee Warwick, "April Fools" by Vanessa Williams, "Promise Her Anything" by Tom Jones, "Who's Got The Action" by Phil Colbert, "Say Goodbye" by Pat Boone, "Waiting For Charlie To Come Home" by Marlena Shaw, "He Who Loves" by Lenny Welch, "Loving Is A Way Of Living" by Steve Lawrence, "With Open Arms" by Jane Morgan, "Ten Thousand Years Ago" by Rusty Draper, "Wishin & Hopin" by The Merseybeats, "For The Children" by Burt Bacharach, and "A House Is Not A Home" by Julie Rogers. ~ Dusty Groove

GREGG AUGUST - FOUR BY SIX

One of the most sought-after bassists and "musician's musician" on the New York scene, what sets bassist Gregg August apart is his musical language which spans the jazz, Latin, classical and avant-garde worlds. Four By Six is the bassist's third album as a leader which magnificently sews together his working bands while documenting a moment in time of the meticulously cultivated sound which is brilliantly captured on this recording. The album's collection of all original compositions and "some of New York's most free-thinking players," features a quartet with Sam Newsome (soprano); Luis Perdomo (piano) and E.J. Strickland (drums) and a sextet with John Bailey (trumpet); Yosvany Terry (alto); JD Allen (tenor); Luis Perdomo (piano) and Rudy Royston (drums). It was truly time to record these groups, which together funnel each one of August's influences, life and legends into one astonishingly beautiful album, showing his versatility as a player, composer and citizen of the world. With liner notes by Stanley Crouch. ~ CD Universe

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