These musical sketches dedicated to the American Southwest. A journey to magic powerspots deep in the Havasu Canyon, to ghost towns along the Turquoise Trail where time stands still. This spiritual journey merges with Frank's excellent instrumental abilities to compose a tender and moody piece of music with a very dense and gripping atmosphere. Sparingly used synthesizers add colour, the occasionally used percussion offers a gentle rhythmical hold and enhanced is the overall feeling of "well-being" by some brilliantly playing studio musicians on sax and live-percussion, adding a touch of sparkle where it is needed.
The Offbeat Of Avenues was the twelfth album released by The Manhattan Transfer on August 13, 1991, on the Columbia Records label. This album is the first of two albums for Columbia Records. This album is also the first Manhattan Transfer album where the majority of the songs were either written or co-written by the members of the group. This album yielded the group a Grammy Award, in the category of Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for the song "Sassy". The lyrics for this song were written by Janis Siegel and Cheryl Bentyne; the music by composed by Janis Siegel and Bill Bodine.
A separate entity from the Ian Gillan Band and distinct from Ian Gillan the solo artist, Gillan was a band bearing the ex-Deep Purple frontman's name which provided an outlet for his straight-ahead hard rock inclinations (as opposed to the prog rock tendencies of the Ian Gillan Band or Ian Gillan's more polished solo material of the 1990s). Gillan the singer put the band together in 1978, initially recruiting Steve Byrd (guitar), John McCoy (bass), Colin Towns (keyboards, ex-Ian Gillan Band), and Pete Barnacle (drums); this lineup proved short-lived, recording a self-titled Japanese-only album before disintegrating. Bernie Torme replaced Byrd, and Mick Underwood took over for Barnacle; this shift resulted in 1979's Mr. Universe, a surprise U.K. hit album.
Alex Acuna ( drummer for the famous Weather Report ) and world class session drummer is well known but his work with the "Unknowns" remains unknown to the vast majority of the jazz fusion listening public!
By no means the first (or last) ever Slade hits collection, Wall of Hits is nevertheless the only one you truly need, a solid roundup of every British Top Ten smash the band ever scored, plus a smattering of lesser-rated (but equally deserving) Top 20 entries, and only one track – 1991's "Universe" – that really doesn't belong. Neither has time taken any toll on the quality of the music. Whether causing roaring traffic to grind to a halt or bearing their souls in a ballad, the members of Slade not only made great records, they also tapped emotions – wild and wacky, reflective and raw – that make fans never tire of singing their songs.
The superbly consistent quality of the Third Book of songs by John Dowland suggests that the earlier issues, First Book and Second Book also recorded by Anthony Rooley and the Consort of Musicke, were no mere flashes in the pan, but set the tone for the whole series.