Ruff Love

A top-notch adult contemporary vocalist still awaiting a well-deserved crossover commercial breakthrough, Marilyn Scott adds powerful fuel to her cause on Avenues of Love by helping herself with a well-balanced array of production and songwriting talent. George Duke surrounds her with party voices and a kneejerking Latin groove on a playful list of dance steps on "I Like to Dance," then surrounds her clear, sensuous voice with airy, billowing synth cushioning on the Bacharach-David classic "The Look of Love." Scott and bassist Jimmy Haslip reroute to Memphis on Michael Ruff's Wilson Pickett-like pick me up, "Love Is a Powerful Thing," engaging a two-piece horn section that sounds even larger. The Yellowjacket touch is in full effect on the picturesque "Avenida del Sol," which approximates an update of the gentle Astrud Gilberto sound; the tune was written by Scott and Bob Mintzer, and produced by Scott, Haslip, and Russell Ferrante. Scott's greatest gift here is her sense of modulation; she belts like crazy on the funk pieces, but recognizes the emotional power of restraint on the ballads.

In 1991 Coil released the third of their early classic full-length albums "Love's Secret Domain", seemingly casting aside the gloom and funereal beauty of its predecessors in favour of a painstakingly multi-layered hallucinogenic electronic beast, which unlike some of their fellow ex-industrial contemporaries' releases of the time wasn't an attempt at easy accessibility or (the-gods-forbid) danceability, but a vibrating psychedelic masterpiece unrivalled in their discography and still a landmark album.

Milt Jackson - For Someone I Love (1963) {Riverside OJCCD-404-2 rel 1989}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 219 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 92 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 1989 Riverside / Fantasy | OJCCD-404-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Brass / Vibes

The main reasons for this CD reissue's success are Melba Liston's inventive and unpredictable arrangements for the brass orchestra. Vibraphonist Milt Jackson has nearly all the solos (although trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Quentin Jackson, Julius Watkins on French horn and Major Holley on tuba do make their presence known) and seems understandably inspired by the backup orchestra which consists of four or five trumpets, three trombones, three or four French horns, Holley's tuba and a rhythm section. The well-conceived set (which includes such songs as "Days of Wine and Roses," "Save Your Love for Me," some Duke Ellington ballads and "Bossa Bags") is consistently excellent, making this a highly recommended set.