A tremendous little record from Muzart – upbeat, positive, and wonderfully grooving right from the start – served up in a beautiful blend of club rhythms and righteous soul, all with a sense of precision that we haven't heard this well in years! The vibe here is a bit contemporary, but there's a classic care to the record right from the start – an approach that instantly has the group at the level of major groovers like Incognito or The Rurals – but with a fresh, youthful feel that really befits their look on the cover and their origin! Everything's got a sense of energy and surprise that goes way beyond the usual – a commitment to really make things interesting from the ground up – and not just phone in some soulful message over half-baked grooves. Acoustic elements dance along nicely with electric ones – and titles include "Jukebox", "Oh Yeah", "Long Long Time", "The Great I Am", "Moemedi", "Not In Tha Mood", and "The Party After". ~ Dusty Groove
One of the best-ever recordings by Herb Jeffries – a smooth-toned jazz singer from the 50s, with a style that's very much in the mode of contemporaries like Al Hibbler or Billy Eckstine, with a nice cheesecake cover too! The backings are what make this set great – as Russ Garcia has crafted some incredibly edgey orchestrations to accompany Herb, much better than the backings that he gets on some of his other 50s sides. The album's a great batch of sad late night love tracks – and titles include "Say It Isn't So", "Glad To Be Unhappy", "The End Of A Love Affair", "I Only Have Eyes For You", "Dinner For One, Please James", and "When Your Lover Has Gone". ~ Dusty Groove
One of the few albums ever cut by 50s singer Paula Castle – a really great vocalist with a sound that matches the best Bethlehem records work of her labelmate, Chris Connor! Castle's got a nicely-composed approach to singing – never too flowery or overdone, yet also never too cool, either – a perfect balance that comes through beautifully with the set's stripped-down backings – just a quartet with Ronnie Selbey on piano, and flute by Sam Most. Most's flute really shades in the tunes nicely – underscoring things with some subtle blue tones that are really great – and titles include "I'm Shooting High", "Yesterday's Gardenias", "Here I Am In Love Again", and "Lost Love". ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment