Tuesday, June 06, 2017

NEW RELEASES: ANGELA BOFILL - I TRY: THE ANTHOLOGY 1978-1993; RIVERSIDE – THE NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM; WILLIE CLAYTON – CROSSROAD OF THE BLUES

ANGELA BOFILL - I TRY: THE ANTHOLOGY 1978-1993

Angela Bofill's not just a hell of a singer – she's also got a great record for collaboration too, which is as well-documented on this collection as her own classic work from the time! The package focuses strongly on the late 70s/early 80s stretch when Bofill's music was soaring on a series of albums and singles for Arista – but it also extends past those tracks to include contemporary and later collaborations – with artists who include Narada Michael Walden, Carl Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Stanley Clark, Marion Meadows, Boz Scaggs, and Kirk Whalum – tracks that are every bit as important to Angela's career as her own catalog. We love this series of collections from Soulmusic.com for the way they bring together all the right moments from an artist's career – as you'll hear on this set of 34 tracks that includes "Is This A Dream", "Never Wanna Be Without Your Love", "Too Tough (long version)", "Can't Slow Down (ext rmx)", "Holdin Out For Love", Baby I Need Your Love", "Love Was Never", "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", "Tonight I Give In", "I Wanna Love Somebody (single edit)", "Let Me Be The One", "A Woman In Love", "You're A Special Part Of Me", "Break It To Me Gently", "Where Do We Go", "Always A Part Of Me", "Heavenly Love", "Song For A Rainy Day", "No Love In Sight", "Tonight I Give In", "Love & Marriage", "Love Light", and "All The Reasons Why".  ~ Dusty Groove

RIVERSIDE – THE NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM

Dave Douglas has always been a hell of a trumpeter, but he's also always been smart enough to realize that he sometimes hits some of his greatest strengths in collaboration – as he does working here with the excellent Riverside quartet! The group's first record was inspired by the music of Jimmy Giuffre – but this time around, they seem to have expanded their vision – working with some tracks by Carla Bley, but also some great work of Dave's, too – in a style that really finds a new space for the trumpet of Douglas, alongside the saxes and clarinet of Chet Doxas, drums of Jim Doxas, and electric bass of Steve Swallow! The legendary Swallow works here in a way that's sometimes subtle, but extremely effective – often creating this gentle pulse around which the horns are free to circulate in space – soaring together, shaping new sounds, and really pulling an amazing performance out of both players. Jim Doxas' drums are equally understated, in a really great way – and titles include "King Korn", "View From A Bird", "Old Country", "Never Mind", "New National Anthem", and "Enormous Tots". ~ Dusty Groove

WILLIE CLAYTON – CROSSROAD OF THE BLUES

Always-great work from Willie Clayton – a blues singer in scene, but one who often works with a sound that's equal part southern soul – especially that late 70s moment when some of the older southern soul singers moved onto the Malaco Records blues scene! Willie's recorded with Otis Clay in the past, and you can definitely hear a level of vocal phrasing that lives up to Clay's legacy – set to instrumentation that's a bit more Chicago electric blues overall, but well-crafted, without any sense of cliche. Titles include "We Had A Good Thang", "Keep On Loving Me", "Two Wrongs Don't Make It Right", "Backside Of Fifty", "Bartender Blues", and "Sneaking & Creeping".  ~ Dusty Groove


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