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Rick Marotta
Roberta Flack: The Montreux Years
by Thomas Fletcher
With a voice of remarkable nuance and power, Roberta Flack emerged as one of the defining artists of the early 1970s. Drawing on her classical training as a pianist and vocalist, Flack crafted a deeply expressive style that moved seamlessly between soul, jazz, pop and folk. Spanning nearly four decades, this live album chronicles Flack's journey at the festival, from her 1971 debut to her final appearance in 2008. The album is 2026's addition to The Montreux Years ...
Continue ReadingDeodato: In Concert - Live At Felt Forum
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Since his days at Verve Records in the early 1960s, when he produced seminal bossa nova albums by such artists as Luiz Bonfá, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Walter Wanderley, Laurindo Almeida, Bola Sete,, João Gilberto and Astrud Gilberto, until his activities during the A&M/CTI era (when also signed Milton Nascimento and Tamba 4) and at the Greenestreet label (which thrived for a scant ten months in 1984, but gave him enough time to launch trumpeter Claudio Roditi's solo career), Creed Taylor ...
Continue ReadingEric Gale: Forecast
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Eric Gale (born on September 20, 1938, of Barbadian parents, in Brooklyn, NY) recorded over 500 albums as sideman, backing such stars as Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, Dianna Ross, Paul Simon, Lena Horne, Michel Legrand, Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, Milton Nascimento, Billy Joel, Gato Barbieri and Mongo Santamaria, to name a few. Gale's association with Creed Taylor began when the celebrated producer was working at Verve Records. ...
Continue ReadingJD Souther: You're Only Lonely
by Doug Collette
JD Souther might well be considered the unsung hero of country rock as we know it. Forget for the moment the ill-conceived and woefully mis-executed David Geffen vanity project that was Souther, Hillman and Furay: his early alliance in Longbranch Pennywhistle, with the late Glenn Frey, co-founder of the Eagles, led to Souther's collaborations with that group, including but not limited to what is arguably the pinnacle of their discography Desperado (Asylum, 1973) (he is one of the captured outlaws ...
Continue ReadingDeodato: Deodato 2
by David Rickert
The surprise success of “Also Sprach Zarathrustra” on Prelude prompted Deodato to quickly follow with Deodato 2, a record that closely followed the template of his first number one hit. Deodato knew there was a lot of money to be made courting the rock audience, and there’s little on this record that could safely be called jazz. However, this record still stands up remarkably well today, unlike some of the other keyboard-driven records from the era. This time “Rhapsody in ...
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