Monday, May 11, 2015

NEW RELEASES: THE CHI-LITES - THE BRUNSWICK COMPLETE SINGLES COLLECTION; THE CITY BOYS ALLSTARS – PERSONAL THING; MATT LAVELLE / JACK DESALVO / TOM CABRERA - SUMARI

THE CHI-LITES - THE BRUNSWICK COMPLETE SINGLES COLLECTION

The complete early Brunswick singles of one of our favorite vocal groups ever – the sublimely sophisticated Chi-Lites – a group who brought harmony soul to a whole new level with records like these! The Chi-Lites could be heartbreaking on their ballads and mellow cuts – then soar out with a new sort of righteous power at other, more upbeat moments – always holding onto not just their wonderful sense of group phrasing, but also the special sort of lyrics that were penned for the group by leader Eugene Record! And while the Chi-Lites had a huge run of full albums for Brunswick, their singles are really something special – and are collected here in a massive package of 56 tracks on 3CDs. Titles include "My Baby Loves Me", "Love Is Gone", "Price Of Love", "Being In Love", "Homely Girl", "Toby", "Here I Am", "Marriage License", "I Found Sunshine", "Stoned Out Of My Mind", "I Want To Pay You Back", "We Are Neighbors", "Trouble's A Comin", "I Like Your Lovin", "24 Hours Of Sadness", "Let Me Be The Man My Daddy Was", "Give It Away", and lots more!  ~ Dusty Groove

THE CITY BOYS ALLSTARS – PERSONAL THING


Sounding like no other band, the City Boys Allstars, are three exemplary singers and ten world-class musicians based in New York Cit.  The group showcases their crack-of-dawn fresh mixture of jazz and rock, along with touches of funk, soul. Blues, and gospel on Personal Thing, their new studio album.  The sheer force of the band’s musical personality reinforces the appeal of strong, intelligent songs written by four band members, and one updated cover song, the late great Joe Zawinul’s “Birdland.” Personal Thing is every bit as stellar as the Allstars’ previous album, Blinded By The Night, a concert recording selected by DownBeat as one of the “Best Albums of 2014” and highly praised by Blues In Britain Magazine.

MATT LAVELLE / JACK DESALVO / TOM CABRERA - SUMARI

Other world art music and improvisations through space and time, and the soundtrack of twilight.  Theses phrases have all been used to attempt to describe this trio known as Sumari.  Guitarist Jack DeSalvo, hailed in The Wire magazine as “masterful”, joined Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society in the 1980s, and has toured the world with many artists in his own musical-spirited journey. Tom Cabrera is a percussionist of striking depth.  As in-demand jazz drummer who made a specialty of the percussion family known as frame drums, Cabrera constructed a drum set which sports riq, tar, dumbeq, bodhran and various percussives about a small bass drum and hi-hat. With a sonic oeuvre that ranges from the quaking to the sublime, Tom carries the band’s rhythmicity in the best harmolodic fashion. Matt Lavelle’s haunting trumpet sound is reminiscent of Don Cherry’s and makes extreme use of the alto’s natural range, fusing it with the cry of Dolphy’s bass clarinet sound, and then into the imaginary realm of Eastern double-reeds painted New Orleans blue.  


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