Recorded live in 1993 when Paco de Lucia was touring with his sextet, this is real artistry. De Lucia
has never been afraid to push the boundaries of flamenco, and with his
sextet he does just that. The music is moved by the spirit of the
tradition, but never constrained by it.
Like his show, the music builds,
as he begins solo on "Mi Niño Curro," then other members join him
before it all culminates in a gloriously grinning "Buana Buana King
Kong." There's plenty of well-known de Lucia material here, like
"Zyryab" and "Tio Sabas," but on-stage there's more freedom to stretch
out than in the studio.
That he's been influenced by his work with other
guitarists is apparent in his approach, which sometimes takes on the
colors of a jazz-flamenco fusion. But there are still plenty of moments
of duende, the transcendence that's all important in flamenco. And time
and time again, de Lucia effortlessly proves he's the world's greatest
living flamenco guitar player, with ideas, runs, and shifts that stagger
the imagination.
About the only fault to find with this album is that
it's not long enough.
Personnel: Carlos Benavent (bass, mandolin) Rubem Dantasd (percussion) Ramon De Algeciras (guitar) Paco De Lucia (guitar) Pepe De Lucia (vocals) Jorge Pardo (saxophone, flute) Manolo Soler (percussion)
Tracklist: 01. Mi Nino Curro (De Lucia) 8.31 02. La Bqarrosa (De Lucia) 8.54 03. Alcazar De Sevilla (De Lucia/De Lucia/Lencero/Amador) 8.54 04. Peroche (De Lucia/Benavent/Pardo/Canizares) 6.28 05. Tio Sabas (De Lucia) 6.34 06. Sonquete (De Lucia) 6.49 07. Zyryab (De Lucia) 12.53 08. Buana Buana King Kong (De Lucia/De Lucia)
The premise of this Atlantic set is a bit unusual.
The Art Farmer Quartet (consisting of flugelhornist Farmer, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Pete LaRoca), which was together from 1962-64 (after the demise of the Jazztet),
was passing through Stockholm, Sweden at the time of this date and the
musicians felt inspired to record a full album of traditional Swedish
folk songs. Respect is paid to the often haunting melodies and Farmer sounds quite at home in this context, sometimes hinting a bit at Chet Baker.
Fortunately, not all of the tunes are taken at a ballad pace, and once the themes are fully stated, Farmer and Hall
have plenty of harmonically sophisticated solos. The band's cool and
restrained style suits the music perfectly, turning it into jazz without
losing its essence. Although a brief set (at under 33 minutes), every
note counts on this successful outing.
Personnel: Art Farmer (fluegelhorn) Jim Hall (guitar) Pete LaRoca (drums) Steve Swallow (bass)
Tracklist: 01. Va Da Du (Was It You) (Traditional) 5.24 02. De Salde Sina Hemman (They Sold Their Homestead) (Traditional) 6.13 03. Den Motstravige Brudgummen (The Reluctant Groom) (Traditional) 5.52 04. Och Hor Du Unga Dora (And Listen Young Dora) (Traditional) 5.51 05. Kristallen Den Fina (The Fine Crystal) (Traditional) 3.12 06. Visa Vid Midsommartid (Midsummer Song) (Traditional) 6.15
Tubby Hayes was a superior tenor saxophonist from England who played in the tradition of Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, with just a dash of Johnny Griffin and early John Coltrane.
This album finds Tubby holding his own with a top-notch swinging rhythm section (pianist Horace Parlan, bassist George Duvivier, and Dave Bailey) along with guests Clark Terry (on four of the ten selections) and vibraphonist Eddie Costa (on three songs).
Whether it be an up-tempo rendition of "Airegin" or a tender "You're My Everything," Tubby Hayes
shows that he is an underrated legend.
Personnel: Dave Bailey (drums) Eddie Costa (vibraphone) George Duvivier (bass) Tubby Hayes (saxophone) Horace Parlan (piano) Cark Terry (trumpet) Tracklist: 01. You for Me (Haines) 4.38 02. A Pint Of Bitter (Terry) 7.05 03. Airegin (Rollins) 8.59 04. Opus Ocean (Terry) 7.29 05. Soon (Gershwin) 7.44 06. Doxy (Rollins) 9.18
This psyhcedelic nugget wrapped within a lovely hippie album covers
offers to an interested listener both conventional San Francisco psych
pop rock, and also experimental material, proving that they were among
the rock artists searching the boundaries of their art and style. The
opening track might be a disappointment to a prog listener, but I
enjoyed the more fragile following numbers.
The keyboard driven sound
with much vocals and emotional approach also remind the sound of the
Vanilla Fudge, and I just love that soaring acid guitar giving the
solos.
The last song of the album is a 17-minutes long epic, containing
some references to classical choral music, which then gets a sudden
LSD-treatment. The composition is interesting, but not the most
brilliant. However quite innovative among the 1960's American garage
scene, focusing to more straightforward muscial elements than complex
compositional arrangements in my own observation.
I would suggest this
album to fans of the history of early artistic psychedelic rock music
and those deeply interested on hippie rock scene.
Personnel: John Gaborit (guitar)
Lee Graham (bass, flute)
Rod Pilloud (drums)
Dick Powell (keyboards, harmonica)
Ted Shreffler (keyboards)
Tracklist: 01. Take It Like A Man (Graham) 3.34
02. You Made A Change In Me (Graham) 5.29
03. Crystals (Graham) 3.00 04. Never Come Down (Graham) 3.48 05. Woman Woman (Shreffler) 06. The Love Cycle (Graham) 17.25
Five years into her tenure at Capitol Records, Judy Garland
had slipped from the top rung of the label's concerns. After her first
three Capitol LPs all figured in the charts, her next three did not, and
when she came to record her sixth studio album and seventh release
overall, her sessions were no longer being overseen by heavyweight
arranger/conductors Nelson Riddle or Gordon Jenkins, who had handled her last four; this time, the arrangements were farmed out and Jack Marshall conducted. Nevertheless, the results were engaging. Twelve songs Garland had never before recorded were chosen, including a good newly written tune by André Previn and Dory Langdon,
"Yes." The rest came from the treasure chest of pop standards written
for Broadway and the movies in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s (plus the 1953
title song), by such songwriters as Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Dietz & Schwartz, and Garland's personal favorites, Arlen & Harburg. Marshall
and his arrangers mixed up the styles, from full-scale orchestral
settings to the bluesy small-band accompaniment to "How Long Has This
Been Going On?" and Marshall's own piano on Kurt Weill's "It Never Was You." Garland
was in good voice and sang with assurance, resulting in another
terrific collection. Unfortunately, she was touring in Europe when the
album was released and, lacking any real promotion, it didn't sell. The
following year, however, Garland
used the material as the basis of her stage show, singing five of the
songs at the performance that produced her chart-topping, Grammy-winning
comeback album Judy at Carnegie Hall, so That's Entertainment! serves as something of a curtain raiser to that collection. (by William Ruhlmann)
Personnel: Judy Garland (vocals) + Orchestra conducted by Jack Marshall
Tracklist: 01. That´s Entainment ! (Dietz/Schwartz) 2.31 02. Who Cares (I.Gershwin/G.Gershwin) 1.31 03. I´ve Confessed To The Breeze (I Love You) (Harbach/Youmans) 3.07 04. If I Love You Again (Murrray/Oakland) 2.42 05. Yes (Langdon/Previn) 3.14 06. Puttin´ On The Rith (Berlin) 1.59 07. Old Devil Moon (Harburg/Lane) 2.57 08. Down With Love (Alen/Harburg) 2.11 09. How Long Has This Been Going On ? (I.Gershwin/G.Gershwin) 2.53 10. It Never Was You (Anderson/Weill) 3.25 11. Just You, Just Me (Greer/Klages) 1.42 12. Alone Together (Dietz/Schwartz) 3.19
"Dirty Water" is the Tower debut. The title song is a Punk classic
reproduced on numerous "Nuggets"-type comps, and along with the five
and-a-half minute b-side, "Rari" was recorded in Hollywood by Richard
Podolor. Most of the remaining tracks - originals, covers, and songs
written by Cobb, an accomplished sonwriter - were recorded a year later
(April 1966) at Kearnie Barton's Seattle Studio, and as re-mastering
engineer Bob Irwin points out, were "over-modulated directly to the
multi-track tape, causing the finished master to become a
powerful...gritty and distorted wash of sound..." charactistic of the
Northwest punk/garage bands recording at Barton's studio during the
period (such as the Sonics). These early recordings contained influenced
later groups like the MC5.
Drummer Dave Dodd (an ex-Mouseketeer!) had a sexy, delicately cool
and seductive voice that influenced (N.Y. Dolls guitarist)Johnny
Thunders' breathy singing on "Hurt Me" and other classics. Dodd sings
about two-thirds of the material included and is a near-forgotton
punk-rock progenitor. He could snarl with the best Jagger-imitators and
convey the soft bad-boy sexiness that exudes both cruelty and
vulnerability. (His vocal on the classic "Medication" is one of the most
understated and seductive ever!). Despite scores of versions recorded
in 1966, Dodd manages to make "Hey Joe" sound like it was written for
him. Keyboardist Larry Tamblyn also contributes a couple of fine
rockers. The bonus cuts are all worthy,including the pre-Cobb audition
track, the early-Beatles influenced "It's All In Your Mind," and two
solid outtakes from the "Try It" sessions, with ex-Love bassist (and
"Jaws" cinematographer) John Fleck. I advise the reader to pick up all
four Sundazed remasters rather than the earlier Rhino Best-of or the
ugly Hip-O comp. Not only do you get the complete Tower recordings, but
the best sound and notes as well. With more forward looking management,
this group might be remembered as more than 1 or 2 hit wonders today -
they were LA garage rockers of the first rank, with plenty of attitude
and raunch - and, good songs - to spread macross these four killer sets.
(The other remasters are "Why Pick On Me/Sometimes Good Guys Dont Wear
White," 1966; the much improved-by-bonus-material "The Hot Ones," from
early '67; and the mostly brilliant and risk-taking "Try It," 1967.)
Hey kids, collect 'em all! (by J.P. Ryan)
Personnel: Dick Dodd (drums) Gary Lane (bass) Larry Tamblyn (organ, vocals) Tony Valentino (guitar) + Dave Burke (bass on 12.) John Fleck (bass on 14 + 15.)
Tracklist: 01. Medication (DiTosti/Allton) 2.42 02. Little Sally Tease (Valley) 2.57 03. There Is A Storm Comin´ (Cobb) 3.18 04. 19th Nervous Breakdown (Jagger/Richards) 3.54 05. Dirty Water (Cobb) 2.46 06.Pride And Devotion (Tamblyn) 2.13 07. Hey Joe (Roberts) 2.12 08. Why Did You Heart Me (Dodd/Valentino) 2.28 09. Rari (full version) (Cobb) 5.32 10. Batman (Hefti) 3.04 11. It´s All In Your Mind (Cobb) 2.38 12. Love Me (Dodd/Valentino) 2.45 + 13. Medication (instrumental version) (DiTosti/Allton) 2.43 14. Poor Man´s Prison (Colley/Henderson) 2.23 15. Take A Ride (Cobb) 2.08
Laurel Canyon wonderfully captures the natural, idyllic vibe of its
titular setting, the creative nexus of the late-'60s Los Angeles music
scene.
Swapping the polished pop approach of Jackie DeShannon's past
hits for an appealingly rough-edged country-soul sensibility, the record
celebrates a place and time that transcended the physical world to
signify a virtual Garden of Eden for the flower-power generation.
Featuring extensive contributions from pianist Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack
and guitarist Russ Titleman, Laurel Canyon boasts a swampy, lived-in
charm that perfectly complements DeShannon's sexily gritty vocals.
Her
soulful reading of the Band's "The Weight" anticipates Aretha Franklin's
like-minded cover, but most impressive are originals like "Holly Would"
and the title cut, which eloquently articulate the rustic beauty of
their creator's environs. (by Jason Ankeny)
Personnel: Harold R. Battiste (piano) Jackie DeShannon (vocals) Paul Humphrey (drums) Abe Mills (drums) Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack (piano) Craig Tarwater (guitar) Russ Titelman (guitar) Ray Trainer (bass) + Brendetta Davis (background vocals) Don MacAllister (background vocals) Barry White (background vocals)
Tracklist: 01. Laurel Canyon (DeShannon) 4.07 02. Sunshine Of Your Love (Bruce/Brown/Clapton) 3.35 03. Crystal Clear (Trainer) 3.26 04. She´s My Best Friend (MacAllister) 3.15 05. I Got My Reason (White) 2.52 06. Holly Would (DeShannon) 3.09 07. You´ve Really Got A Hold On Me (Robinson) 2.58 08. The Weight (Robertson) 3.05 09. Bitter Honey (Williams/Nichols) 2.33 10. Come And Stay With Me (DeShannon) 3.07 11. L.A. (DeShannon) 2.47 12. Too Close (Stone/Green/DeShannon) 4.20
In 1962/3,
Dagenham guitarists Vince Nichols and Kevin Sheehan, sharing a passion for
American R'n'B, formed rock band The Boys. Local singer
Sean Buckley joined them a year later, closely followed by drummer Dave
Simmonds, also a Dagenhamite, and
bass-player Colin 'Doc' Banyard from Elm Park. With this line-up the
Breadcrumbs were formed.
Turning
professional in 1965, and managed by Kenny Johnson, in whose Stratford E.15.
pub "The Two Puddings" they held a
long-term residency, the band worked London pubs and clubs and toured
extensively in concert, supporting The Kinks, The Who, The Animals, The
Pretty Things, Manfred Mann, Jerry Lee Lewis, Them, P.J.Proby and many
others.
After
auditioning for Shel Talmy, their first record 'It Hurts Me When I Cry/
Everybody Knows', engineered by Glyn Johns and featuring Jimmy Page, was
released on Stateside.
From 1966,
with a name-change to The Sean Buckley Set, they travelled further afield,
Spending long periods in Frankfurt, Copenhagen,Lyons, Avignon and Munich,
where an album of covers,'Hithouse Hits', was cut for Polydor.
The band split
in 1967, the Breadcrumbs scattering to find bread in other arenas, though
mostly still involved in music.
In 1970/1?
Sean and Vince re-united, using percussion and acoustic guitar to form the
duo Buckley, who were taken on by the Tremelos management company, Gale
Music.
Their record
'Billy Boy/ The Higher the Fewer' came out on Bell Records.
Personnel: Colin Banyard (bass) Sean Buckley (vocals) Vince Nichols (guitar, vocals) Kevin Sheehan (guitar, vocals) Dave Simmonds (drums) + unknown brass section
Tracklist: 01.19th Nervous Breakdown (Jagger/Richards) 3.50 02. Shapes Of Things (McCarty/Relf/Samwell-Smith) 2.21 03. Sounds Of Silence (Simon) 3.13 04. I Fought The Law (Curtis) 2.18 05. Listen People (Gouldman) 3.13 06. Keep On Running (Edwards) 2.52 07. Soulsville U.S.A. (Floyd/Cropper) 3.13 08. These Boots Are Made For Walking (Hazelwood) 2.40 09. Get Out Off My Life Woman (Toussaint) 3.04 10. I Got You (I Feel Good) (Brown) 2.47 11. Uptight (Wonder) 3.27 12. Michelle (Lennon/McCartney) 2.30 13. Jenny Take A Ride (Crewe/Johnson/Penniman) 3.55 14. To Whom It Concerns (Andrews) 2.42
Q: She's 16 and British, what can she possibly know about singing
vintage American soul music? A: Enough to make you squirm, get off your
ass, and dance close with anybody who'll have you. Joss Stone
is a young woman who, if you believe the story, was about to record her
wannabe pop smash debut and then be well on her way to becoming the
next Britney/Christina. Then she heard some vintage American Miami soul made by the likes of Latimore, Little Beaver, Betty Wright, Timmy Thomas, and the like, and genuine inspiration took hold. The result of all this career changing (or diva postponement) is The Soul Sessions, a collection of ten badass soul classics recorded with all of the above folks -- soul princess Betty Wright and S-Curve's Steve Greenberg produced almost all of it in Miami, though a pair of tracks were recorded in New York with R&B wunderkind Mike Mangini and a souled-out cover of the White Stripes "Fell in Love With a Boy," guided by the Roots'
?uestlove (Ahmir Thompson) on the modern tip, was cut in Philly. These
jams drip honey sweet and hard with tough, sexy soul, and Stone's voice is larger than life. It's true she's been tutored and mentored by Wright and her musical collaborators in the science of groove, but she keeps it raw enough to be real. Her reading of Harlan Howard's "The Chokin' Kind" reveals that it should have been an R&B tune all along -- check out Little Beaver's (Willie Hale) guitar solo. Her reading of Bobby Miller's "Dirty Man," a track associated with Wright, is gutsy and completely believable, and the interplay between Latimore's piano and Beaver's funky, shimmering guitaristry brings Stone's vocal down to street level.
For a woman as young as Stone to tackle Carla Thomas' "I've Fallen in Love With You" and Aretha Franklin's "All the King's Horses," not to mention John Ellison's nugget "Some Kind of Wonderful," takes guts, chops, or a genuine delusional personality to pull off. Stone
has the former two. She has unique phrasing and a huge voice that
accents, dips, and slips, never overworking a song or trying to bring
attention to itself via hollow acrobatics. The strings and funky
backbeat provided by Thompson on "I've Fallen in Love With You" are
chilling in the way they prod Stone
to just spill a need out of her heart that one would believe would be
beyond her years. And speaking of Thompson, his production of the Stripes tune is more than remarkable; it conveys Jack White's intent but in an entirely new language. The set closes with Stone's radical reread of the Isleys' "For the Love of You," a daunting and audacious task. The way she tackles this song, prodded only by Angelo Morris'
keyboard whispering alongside her, is far from reverential, but it is
true, accurate, moving, and stunningly -- even heartbreakingly --
beautiful. This is a debut that, along with those fine practitioners in
the nu-soul underground such as Peven Everett, Julie Dexter, Yas-rah, Fertile Ground,
and a few others, is solid proof that soul is alive and well. And
perhaps, given her youth and stunning looks, the perverse star-making
machinery will use this unusual entry into the marketplace to
reinvestigate the wonders of timeless depth and vision inherent in soul
and R&B that are far from exhausted, as this record so convincingly
proves.
Personnel: Cindy Blackmann (drums) Jack Daley (bass) Willie "Little Beaver" Hale (guitar) Benny Latimore (piano) Angelo Morris (keyboards, guitar) Joss Stone (vocals) + Adam Blackstone (bass on 03. + 10.) Deanna Carroll (background vocals on 07.) Mark Ciprit (guitar on 07.) Kirk Douglas (guitar on 03. + 10.) Karen Dreyfuss (viola on 07.) Taneka Duggan (background vocals on 07.) Jimmy Farkus (guitar on 05.) Sam Furnace (saxophone on 07.) Steve Greenwell (bass on 07.) Dawn Hannay (viola on 07.) Kamal (keyboards on 03.) Lisa Kim (violin on 07.) Myung Hi Kim (violin on 07.) Sarah Kim (violin on 07.) Soo Hyun Kwon (violin on 07.) Leanne LeBlanc (cello on 07.) Liz Lim (violin on 07.) Mike Mangini (tambourine on 02.) Namphuyo Aisha McCray (background vocals on 01., 02., 04., 06. + 09.) Ignacio Nunez (percussion on 02.) Sandra Park (violin on 07.) Danny Pierre (keyboards on 07.) James Poyser (keyboards on 03. + 10.) Robert Rinehart (viola on 07.) Tom Rosenfeld (viola on 07.) Laura Seaton (violin on 07.) Sarah Seiver (cello on 07.) Rob Shaw (violin on 07.) Fiona Simon (violin on 07.) Alan Stepansky (cello on 07.) Angie Stone (background vocals on 03. + 10.) Jenny Strenger (violin on 07.) Timmy Thomas (organ on 01., 02., 04. + 08.) Ahmir Thompson (drums on 03., 07. + 10.) Jeremy Turner (cello on 07.) Betty Wright (background vocals on 01. - 03., 04., 06., 09. - 10.) Jeanette Wright (background vocals on 01., 02., 04., 06., 09.) Sharon Yamada (violin 07.) Jung Sun Yoo (violin on 07.)
Tracklist: 01. The Chokin´ Kind (Howard) 3.35 02. Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin´ On Me ?) Pt. 1 (Garner) 4.20 03. Fell In Love With A Boy (White) 3.38 04. Victim Of A Foolish Heart (Buckins/Jackson) 5.31 05. Dirty Man (Miller) 2.59 06. Some Kind Of Wonderful (Ellison) 3.56 07. I´ve Fallen In Love With You (Thomas) 4.29 08. I Had A Dream (Sebastian) 3.01 09. All The King´s Horses (Franklin) 3.03 10. For The Love Of You Pt. 1 & 2 (E.Isley/M.Isley/K.Isley/R.Isley/R.Isley/Jasper) 7.33
tic set is a bit unusual. 
Tubby Hayes was a superior tenor saxophonist from England who played in the tradition of Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, with just a dash of Johnny Griffin and early John Coltrane. 
This psyhcedelic nugget wrapped within a lovely hippie album covers
offers to an interested listener both conventional San Francisco psych
pop rock, and also experimental material, proving that they were among
the rock artists searching the boundaries of their art and style. The
opening track might be a disappointment to a prog listener, but I
enjoyed the more fragile following numbers. 
Five years into her tenure at Capitol Records, Judy Garland
had slipped from the top rung of the label's concerns. After her first
three Capitol LPs all figured in the charts, her next three did not, and
when she came to record her sixth studio album and seventh release
overall, her sessions were no longer being overseen by heavyweight
arranger/conductors Nelson Riddle or Gordon Jenkins, who had handled her last four; this time, the arrangements were farmed out and Jack Marshall conducted. Nevertheless, the results were engaging. Twelve songs Garland had never before recorded were chosen, including a good newly written tune by André Previn and Dory Langdon,
"Yes." The rest came from the treasure chest of pop standards written
for Broadway and the movies in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s (plus the 1953
title song), by such songwriters as Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Dietz & Schwartz, and Garland's personal favorites, Arlen & Harburg. Marshall
and his arrangers mixed up the styles, from full-scale orchestral
settings to the bluesy small-band accompaniment to "How Long Has This
Been Going On?" and Marshall's own piano on Kurt Weill's "It Never Was You." Garland
was in good voice and sang with assurance, resulting in another
terrific collection. Unfortunately, she was touring in Europe when the
album was released and, lacking any real promotion, it didn't sell. The
following year, however, Garland
used the material as the basis of her stage show, singing five of the
songs at the performance that produced her chart-topping, Grammy-winning
comeback album Judy at Carnegie Hall, so That's Entertainment! serves as something of a curtain raiser to that collection. (by William Ruhlmann)
"Dirty Water" is the Tower debut. The title song is a Punk classic
reproduced on numerous "Nuggets"-type comps, and along with the five
and-a-half minute b-side, "Rari" was recorded in Hollywood by Richard
Podolor. Most of the remaining tracks - originals, covers, and songs
written by Cobb, an accomplished sonwriter - were recorded a year later
(April 1966) at Kearnie Barton's Seattle Studio, and as re-mastering
engineer Bob Irwin points out, were "over-modulated directly to the
multi-track tape, causing the finished master to become a
powerful...gritty and distorted wash of sound..." charactistic of the
Northwest punk/garage bands recording at Barton's studio during the
period (such as the Sonics). These early recordings contained influenced
later groups like the MC5.
Laurel Canyon wonderfully captures the natural, idyllic vibe of its
titular setting, the creative nexus of the late-'60s Los Angeles music
scene. 
In 1962/3,
Dagenham guitarists Vince Nichols and Kevin Sheehan, sharing a passion for
American R'n'B, formed rock band The Boys.
Q: She's 16 and British, what can she possibly know about singing
vintage American soul music? A: Enough to make you squirm, get off your
ass, and dance close with anybody who'll have you. Joss Stone
is a young woman who, if you believe the story, was about to record her
wannabe pop smash debut and then be well on her way to becoming the
next Britney/Christina. Then she heard some vintage American Miami soul made by the likes of Latimore, Little Beaver, Betty Wright, Timmy Thomas, and the like, and genuine inspiration took hold. The result of all this career changing (or diva postponement) is The Soul Sessions, a collection of ten badass soul classics recorded with all of the above folks -- soul princess Betty Wright and S-Curve's Steve Greenberg produced almost all of it in Miami, though a pair of tracks were recorded in New York with R&B wunderkind Mike Mangini and a souled-out cover of the White Stripes "Fell in Love With a Boy," guided by the Roots'
?uestlove (Ahmir Thompson) on the modern tip, was cut in Philly. These
jams drip honey sweet and hard with tough, sexy soul, and Stone's voice is larger than life. It's true she's been tutored and mentored by Wright and her musical collaborators in the science of groove, but she keeps it raw enough to be real. Her reading of Harlan Howard's "The Chokin' Kind" reveals that it should have been an R&B tune all along -- check out Little Beaver's (Willie Hale) guitar solo. Her reading of Bobby Miller's "Dirty Man," a track associated with Wright, is gutsy and completely believable, and the interplay between Latimore's piano and Beaver's funky, shimmering guitaristry brings Stone's vocal down to street level.
