Music on the Web (UK)

Webmaster: Len Mullenger

[ Jazz index ] [Nostalgia index]  [ Classical MusicWeb ] [ Gerard Hoffnung ]

BUY NOW Crotchet Midprice

PATTI AUSTIN BODY LANGUAGE CTI 5127932 ( SONY JAZZ)

1. Body language
2. Another Nail For My Heart
3. S.O.S.
4. We’ve Got Tonight
5. (Ooh-Wee) He’s Killing Me
6. I Can’t Stop
7. Love Me Again
8. Soar Me Like An Eagle Flies
9. People In Love (Do The Strangest Things)
10. I Want You Tonight

Patti Austin – Vocals
Randy McCormack, Jeremy wall – Keyboards
Duncan Cameron – Guitar
John Tropea – Guitar 5,9,10
David Hood – Bass 2,4,7
Will Lee – Bass 5,8,9
Michael Brecker – Tenor 6-8,10
Jeremy Dodgion – Alto 8
Randy Brecker – Trumpet 8
Roger Hawkins – Drums
Mickey Buckins – Percussion
Suzanne Ciani – Synth. programming
The Soul Sisters – Background vocals

Creed Taylor was a man who strongly believed that there was a huge market for jazz if it was sold to the public in the right way. The trouble was that in his search for the magic ingredient most of the jazz disappeared and this album is no exception! Patti Austin is a very talented singer and I am sure that if I saw her performing this programme in a concert or cabaret, I would be very impressed. The problem for me as a jazz critic is that even with the talents of Michael Brecker on board the jazz content is so minimal as to be unnoticeable. It is also curious that Jeremy Dodgion gets a mention in the sleeve notes even though he only appears on one track, Brecker is credited with four, but I suspect he also plays on track 1 and he is not mentioned!

The standards of the singing, the musicianship, the arrangements, the songs, are all top class, but it just ain’t jazz.

Don Mather

 

Return to Index