Victoria Monet Smoke

It’s almost time to say farewell, but there’s always time for one more drink. Italian neo-cabaret weirdsters Division S have been offering us something to drink (and smoke) ever since the early 2000’s, but now it’s time to say goodbye with Something To Drink & Smoke, their final album.

Goin' Up In Smoke is the eighth album by former Temptations vocalist Eddie Kendricks. It was released in September 1976 on the Tamla imprint of Motown Records

Bridging both genres and generations with original music steeped in the history of its influences, Hood Smoke’s sonic narrative illustrates timeless stories using beautifully simple melodies set to a rhythmic foundation built firmly from the bass up.

Liquid Smoke were a Long Island, New York group that consisted of Sandy Pantaleo (lead vocals), Vince Fersak (guitar), Ben Ninnman (keyboards), Mike Archuleta (bass), and Chas Kimbrell (drums). The group formed while students at ECU and signed with Avco Embassy in 1969, releasing their lone lp in early 1970 which was produced by Vinny Testa who also produced Frijid Pink and co-produced with Shadow Morton the Merchants Of Dream’s 1968 psych masterpiece “Strange Night Voyage”. The group’s killer psych track “Lookin’ For Tomorrow” was the highlight of Peruvian band Gerardo Manuel & El Humo’s debut lp “Apocallypsis”. The album also includes their single “I, Who Have Nothing” a cover of the Ben E. King hit.

With an unusual amount of time on his hands during a year of lockdown, saxophonist/composer Steve Cole found himself pondering the difference between our authentic selves and the illusions we project to others. On his new album, Smoke and Mirrors, Cole offers up an intimately personal reflection of his own true self, free of trickery or sleight of hand.

Lee Ritenour - Smoke ‘N’ Mirrors (2006)
MP3 320 kbps | 44.1 Khz | No Covers | 65 min 30 sec | 155.2 mb
Genre: Jazz | Label: Peak Records | Year Of Release: August 22, 2006

As comfortable as guitarist Lee Ritenour has always been in the smooth jazz format, he has strived to go beyond it with his embrace of world music and serious jazz stylists including Wes Montgomery. Smoke 'N' Mirrors is a characteristic production in gathering up a sizable cast of contemporary cronies including Patrice Rushen, Dave Grusin, Richard Bona and Abraham Laboriel, but Ritenour's involvement in South African and Brazilian music and his emphasis on acoustic guitar give it a fresh identity. The wistful "Blue Days (Dias Azuis)," written and arranged by Daniel Jobim, son of Antonio Carlos, and featuring the singer Joyce, is one of the album's highlights. The young South African vocalist Zamajobe, featured on three songs, is a real discovery. You may wish Ritenour had stayed on ethnic turf and saved the more familiar, keyboard-sweetened fare for another album. Or you may enjoy the variety of Smoke 'N' Mirrors, which ranges percussively from Sheila E.'s congas to Satnam Ramgotra's Indian tablas. –Lloyd Sachs