Gino+vannelli

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 music and singing are pleasant enough on this Montrealer's second outing. He avoids embarrassments like "Mama Coco" from the following year's Storm at Sunup, but lyrics are not his strong point. This release includes two of his stronger tunes in "People Gotta Move" and the title track. His heart is in the right place, as in a tribute to Jim Croce. Still, Vannelli should have left social commentary to others, or joined forces with a better lyricist.

1997 recording from Montserrat Caballe featuring 16 duets with international stars such as Johnny Hallyday and Khadja Nin from France, Carlos Cano from Spain, Marco Masini from Italy, Gotthard from Switzerland, Rene Froger from Holland & others…

Brian McKnight’s latest release and first for the SoNo Recording Group is a live concert recorded earlier this year in Los Angeles at the historic Saban Theatre…