Saturday, March 20, 2010

Ryo Kawasaki - "Eight Mile Road" 1976

I came across this LP back in my college DJ days, in that it was one of those promotional copies.  I had never heard of Ryo Kawasaki before, and was immediately impressed with his guitar skills. But what sticks with me from this album is the cut "Montevideo", which seems to only have been placed on this LP.  I searched for a copy of the LP recently, and instead was able to find an out-of-print CD from Taiwan on eBay.  I immediately snatched it up.  This album is still unavailable (in any form), so I post it here for your enjoyment.   





Bass [Electric] - Herb Bushler
Congas, Percussion - Abdullah (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B2)
Drums - Buddy Williams
Engineer [Recording, Mix Down] - David Baker
Piano [Acoustic, Fender Rhodes], Clavinet [Hohner], Synthesizer [Arp String Ensemble] - Andy Laverne
Producer [Executive] - Toshinari Koinuma
Producer, Written-by, Guitar [Electric] - Ryo Kawasaki
Saxophone [Tenor, Soprano] - Sam Morrison (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B2)
Synthesizer [Arp Odyssey] - Phil Clendeninn (tracks: A1, B1, B2)

Friday, March 19, 2010

Worldwide Groove - "Reaching For You" 1997

This group borders between jazz-soul group and acid-jazz. They are not be mistaken with Worldwide Groove Corporation, which is a totally different group. This group's sound is similar to that of Incognito but with simpler arrangements.  I stumbled across this group in a Border's Bookstore that offered Live music on Friday and Saturday nights, and was overwhelmed by the music they were giving the audience.  Normally these live performers are one-person bands, whereas Worldwide Groove had a full band with lead female vocalist and background vocalists.  Needless to say, they were a bit much for a bookstore, but I really enjoyed their music and bought their CD. They do have great harmonies, and relaxing melodies...its too bad that this their only release that I know of....? It is poorly circulated and out-of-print from the manufacturer.  My favorite cuts are "Reaching For You" and "And The Rain".  Enjoy....posted at 128kbps, their CD can be had at many used CD stores....so please go get a copy!



Lead Vocals - Sonya Mendez
Guitar - Anthony Forcucci
Drums - John Pickard
Percussion - Jerald Sherman
Keyboards - Sam Gigliotti
Bass - Andres Soler