Patti+austin

Luther Vandross was one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1980s and '90s. Not only did he score a series of multi-million-selling albums containing chart-topping hit singles and perform sold-out tours of the U.S. and around the world, but he also took charge of his music creatively, writing or co-writing most of his songs and arranging and producing his records. He also performed these functions for other artists, providing them with hits as well.

In February of 2000, several world-renowned soul, r&b, and rock artists gathered at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the man who virtually defines this thing they call "blue-eyed soul". McDonald's star began to climb once he began lending his distinctive baritone vocals to some of Steely Dan's great albums, starting with 1974's Pretzel Logic. Who the hell can forget McDonald crooning "PEEEEG" on their brilliant Aja album? All hell broke loose when he joined the already successful Doobie Brothers in 1976 and stole some of the lead vocal chores away from Tom Johnston, starting with the Takin' It To The Streets album.

Richard Tee's "Inside You" was released in 1989 on columbia records and has been long out of print and very difficult to locate. If you are lucky enough to find a copy on E-Bay or through Amazon's used music network I would grab it. This cd is full of easy listening jazz/funk vocals and instrumentals that are done in typical Richard Tee keyboard cool jazz style. The cd gets ample support from an allstar studio team featuring: Tee on keyboards and vocals, Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl on drums, Marcus Miller on bass, Ralph MacDonald percussion, John Tropea on guitar, Lenny Pickett on sax and Patti Austin on backround vocals just to name a few. Highlights include "Louisiana Sunday Afternoon", "So Hard To Handle", "Will You Be There" and "Changes". It's a pleasure to listen to well played music by musicians who are not household names but are as talented as anyone in the industry.