This album was born from the meeting of Gilberto Gil and Vusi Mahlasela during the filming of the documentary filem entitled - Viramundo. Several of the selections are taken from two concerts that took place during the filming of the documentary in Johannesburg in May 2011, while other tracks were recorded a year later in Switzerland, in preparation for a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Arrangements for strings and wind instruments, played by the Miagi Youth Orchestra (South Africa) and the Sinfonietta de Lausanne (Switzerland), is the work of South African pianist Paul Hanmer. In the end, the album stands out as the superb example of a plural and interconnected future, rich in hope, exchanges ... and of course music.
The title and cover are a bit gimmicky, but the album's a wonderfully solid effort from Italian pianist Andrea Pozza – easily one of the most lyrical players we've heard in years! Pozza's got this way of mixing depth with lightness – a quality that sometimes evokes that special mysticism of Horace Silver, especially on Andrea's original tunes on the record – which really sparkle with a sort of exotic quality. There's nothing ever too over the top about the set – yet the group really have a way of putting over something special, and with a bit more subtlety than some of Pozza's recent outings with singers for other labels. Titles include "Il Primo Dei Sette", "As Usual", "Tuttavia E Cosi", "Love Is The Way", and "Get Happy". ~ Dusty Groove
Otis Clay, still going strong – stepping out here on a sweet new recording from the Chicago scene – done with that warm mix of modern modes and deep soul roots we really love from his work of the late 70s! Clay's vocals have, if anything, only gotten better with age – really able to find the right notes and inflections to make the music sparkle – even more so than some of Otis records from back in the day! Instrumentation is relatively laidback – done in a mode that's a bit like some of the Jackson or Memphis styles at the start of the 80s, but without any of the bluesy inflections that might get in the way of the sort of solid soul performance that Clay delivers here. The legendary Tom Tom 84 handled many of the arrangements on the set – and although most of the material is new, Otis also tweaked a few older favorites for the set – to make for a nice long album, too. Titles include "Love's After Me", "All That's Missing Is You", "Walk A Mile In My Shoes", "Even Now", "I Thought You Knew", "Truth Is", "I Know I'm Over You", "Even When I Win", "I Keep Trying", "Steal Away To The Hideaway", and "The Only Way Is Up". ~ Dusty Groove
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