The Crossing,
Deodato's last work has been recorded with the collaboration of great artists:
Al Jarreau, Billy Cobham, John Tropea, the Italian Novecento, Londonbeat, Airto
Moreira and Paco Sery.
The album tracks
are combination of funk and smooth Latin bossa. In my opinion, even that
Deodato has surrounded itself by Jazz Fusion geniuses like Cobham, Airto or
Tropea; the result has been a compilation of maybe too Smooth tunes, but also very lively and some of great quality.
"Double face" is the star track, the one released first as a single. The
melody is opened with Jarreau’s usual vocal jams. The chorus (“Double
feature/Double creature/That will teach ya… Double do ya/ Double fool
ya/Hallelujah”) has been strongly criticized for its simplicity; although it
has to be said that it's pretty catchy. Eumir, for its part, dazzles us with his
two piano solos, both very rhythmic. It reminds me to that kind of 80’s disco
tunes; a song obviously composed to be danced.
Much better is
the collaboration with Jarreau and Novecento: “I want you more”. Here, Dora
Nicolosi sings with a seductive and warm voice. A perfect
melody for driving at night under the street lights...
Another good piece
to pay attention in this album is “Summertime” (versioned from the one composed by George Gershwin for
the opera Porgy and Bess), where Tropea finally really shows off his guitar
skills in a pure Santana style.
Note: Pay
attention to the blog tomorrow because I’ll upload this week playlist! Sorry
for this six-day gap without posting anything, it has been a busy week.
Funk da world!
