Gino Vanelli Black Card

This release from the BGO label combines two of Gino Vannelli's albums for A&M, Powerful People (1974) and Storm at Sunup (1975). Both releases peaked in the Top 60 of the Billboard 200, while “People Gotta Move” – the lead song on the former – was one of Vannelli’s biggest singles and narrowly missed the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Those who pick up a well-chosen Vannelli compilation can get the essential songs, but soft rock diehards can obtain a fair amount of Vannelli’s choice album-bound material right here.

By this point, Vannelli has pared away the often-bizarre edges of his sound and became more mainstream. That's not a bad thing. This album's predecessor, A Pauper in Paradise, seemed to blow up his pretensions to skyscraper size with only the melodic and gorgeous "The Surest Things Can Change" coming out unscathed…

The journey Niels Lan Doky and Gino Vannelli have undertaken in this album is - most of all - a rejoining journey. A reunion with their own roots ("A Word To My Father"), with their most intimate affections ("Tout Depend De Nous"), with Nature ("The War Of A Lonesome Dove"), with the World ("Close Your Eyes") and Spirituality ("Karumi"). To rejoin all this is to perceive Opposites and Conflicts as mere appearances. As such, melody and dissonance, sound and silence, perfect and unperfect, sacred and profane share the same, radiant Light. Recognising such differences means to solve them, to focus where the beauty and unity are coming from. This is "Haitek Haiku": at the same time an ideal Myth, a Project and a Sound.
In the heterogenity of its ten tracks, hypertechnological and hyperhuman coexist with one another…

Gino Vannelli's Yonder Tree is a musical breath of fresh air from a gifted artist who can perform just about anything he wants to. However with Yonder Tree, the listener truly feels his exuberance and his human compassion as he explores themes of romance and moral consciousness in a musical genre that is so well suited to his voice.
With Yonder Tree, Gino delves into his gift for lush arranging and presents us with a beautifully orchestrated work that is romantic, eclectic, and highlights his most beautiful instrument, his voice, in a way that his three previous albums did not. This is yet another overlooked and underappreciated effort from an artist who is constantly evolving and dares his audience to join him on the journey. Those who are able to be touched by a genuine artist whose primary goal is to touch the heart and soul with his music will enjoy the ride.