Love songs in Jazz Instrumental Music

"Love Songs" (01/27/2004) Jazz Instrument Franks, Michael, Rhino Records (USA)Personnel: Michael Franks, Brenda Russell (vocals); Claus Ogerman, Eumir Deodato (arranger); Larry Carlton (electric guitar); John Tropea, Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar); Bud Shank (flute); David Sanborn (alto saxophone); Ernie Watts (tenor saxophone); Floyd Cramer (trumpet); Joe Sample (Fender Rhodes piano); Leon Pendarvis (keyboards); Mike Mainieri, Larry Bunker (vibraphone); Will Lee (bass); Steve Gadd, John Guerin (drums); Nana Vasconcelos, Ralph MacDonald (percussion). Producers include: Tommy LiPuma, John Simon, Andre Fischer, Michael Colina, Rob Mounsey. Compilation producers: Barry Benson, Michael Franks. Recorded between 1975 & 1995. Includes liner notes by A. Scott Galloway. This is part of Rhino Records "Love Songs" series. Personnel: Michael Franks (vocals, Spanish guitar); Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar); Larry Carlton (electric guitar); John Tropea (Spanish guitar); Edgar Lustgarten (cello); Claus Ogerman (strings); Bud Shank (flute); David Sanborn (alto saxophone); Ernie Watts (tenor saxophone); Joe Sample (piano, electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano); Tennyson Stephens (piano); Larry Bunker, Mike Mainieri (vibraphone); John Guerin (drums); Ralph MacDonald (percussion). Audio Remasterer: Pat Kraus. Liner Note Authors: Michael Franks; A. Scott Galloway. Photographers: Lynn Goldsmith; Carl Studna; Norman Seeff; Kip Lott. Unknown Contributor Role: John Guerin. Arranger: Deodato. It's a wonder an album like this took so very long to compile. If ever there were a singer/songwriter who evoked the true spirit of "love song" collections, it's pop jazzer Michael Franks. His Reprise run that covered nine albums from 1975 through 1995 is fraught with delightful love songs of varying tempos, quirky changes, and an altogether warm, seductive vibe. "Cool" is the word that epitomizes Franks at his sophisticated, elegant best, and if anybody doubted it, any college dorm room from the era would yield a couple of his sides reserved for "those moments." Indeed, Franks has often been dubbed the Tom Robbins of the pop tune. Much of what is here in 16 tracks is inarguable. Meta-fans would find some quibbles, but that's all they would be. This is a well-assembled set that contains tracks from all of his Reprise recordings, from The Art of Tea ("Popsicle Toes"), Sleeping Gypsy ("The Lady Wants to Know"), Burchfield Nines ("Meet Me in the Deerpark"), and on into Passionfruit ("When I Give My Love to You") and Skin Dive ("Now I Know") as well as cuts from One Bad Habit, Tiger in the Rain, Abandoned Garden, and Objects of Desire. The package comes with an excellent liner note essay by A. Scott Galloway. A fine collection by one of the most consistent artists in the past several decades. ~ Thom Jurek

"Love Songs [Rhino]" (01/16/2001) Jazz Instrument Washington, Grover, Jr., Rhino Records (USA)Personnel includes: Grover Washington Jr. (soprano & tenor saxophones, flute); Bill Withers, Patti Labelle, Grady Tate (vocals); Billy Childs (piano, synthesizer); Richard Tee (Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards); Marcus Miller (synthesizer, bass); Dexter Wansel (synthesizer); Eric Gale, Lee Ritenour (guitar); Cedric Napoleon, Abe Laboriel (bass); Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason, Buddy Williams (drums); Ralph MacDonald (congas, Syndrums, shaker, bells, percussion); Victor Feldman, Leonard "Doc" Gibbs (percussion). Producers: Grover Washington Jr., Ralph MacDonald, Dexter Wansel, Nathan Sassover. Compilation producer: Barry Benson. Engineers include: Richard Alderson, Pete Humphries, Dennis Sands. Includes liner notes by Janine Coveney. Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot (DigiPrep). Personnel: Grover Washington, Jr. (saxophone); Bill Withers (vocals); Eric Gale (guitar); Richard Tee (Fender Rhodes piano); Dexter Wansel (synthesizer); Ed Walsh, Bill Eaton (Oberheim synthesizer); Millard Vinson, Robert Greenidge, Steve Gadd (drums); Ralph MacDonald (congas, percussion); Leonard "Doc" Gibbs (percussion); Ullanda McCullough, Yvonne Lewis, Zachary Sanders, Hilda Harris (background vocals). Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot. Rhino in the U.K. issued this so-called Platinum Collection. It is a single disc of 13 tracks from Grover Washington, Jr.'s period with Elektra, beginning with 1980's Come Morning and running through 1984's Inside Moves, when he jumped ship for Columbia. There were certainly hit records during the period, "Winelight" being the biggest, and Washington's singles charted, but his albums had become lackluster and the compilers of this knew it, which is why there are cross-licensed tunes from other labels such as the smash duet with Bill Withers on the Ralph McDonald-penned "Just the Two of Us." Truth of the matter is, this is an exact copy of the WEA International compilation called Definitive Grover Washington, Jr.: The Elektra Years and the previous Rhino edition called 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Grover Washington, Jr. It has little to recommend it. Any real Grover Washington collection has to include cuts from his Kudu and Motown periods just to get started. It is far more advisable to pick up the Hip-O collection entitled Ultimate Collection. ~ Thom Jurek Grover Washington, Jr.'s mosaic jazz persona balms like an elixir on 13 mellow ones from his 1979 to 1984 Elektra Records period; Love Songs features at least one title from each of his five Elektra albums. These were melodious times for Washington who happily demonstrates his virtuosity on multiple reed instruments and the flute, accompanied by backing singers, acclaimed studio musicians, and star vocalists. Bill Withers unites with Washington on the chart-busting "Just the Two of Us"; Patti Labelle joins him on Cynthia Biggs and Dexter Wansel's "The Best Is Yet to Come"; and Grady Tate croons "Be Mine Tonight." Leonard "Doc" Gibbs, better-known now as chef Emeril Lagasse's bandleader (on his cooking show), burns on percussions. This is smooth urban jazz at its finest; even Bob Marley's "Jammin'," a rocker for sure, comes off buttery. If you don't have any of Washington's LPs from this era, this is a good catch-up. Silky joints like "Winelight," "Let It Flow (For 'Dr. J')," "East River Drive," and others make listening a pleasure: not the challenge that jazz purists prefer. Even if you're lukewarm about jazz you'll enjoy these accessible spins. ~ Andrew Hamilton

"Love Songs" (10/09/1997) Jazz Instrument Waters, Patty, Jazzline RecordsPersonnel: Patty Waters (vocals); Patty Waters; Jessica Williams (piano, synthesizer). Liner Note Author: Scott Yanow . Recording information: Quanta Studios, CA (01/1996). Photographers: Elaine Arc; Will Wallace. In 1965, at the height of the free jazz movement, the avant-garde vocalist Patty Waters recorded her seminal PATTY WATERS SINGS for the ESP label, notable for its hair-raising 11-minute tour-de-force, "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair." After the follow-up, 1966's COLLEGE TOUR, Ms. Waters effectively retired from public performance for nearly three decades. What makes Waters's 1997 vocals-piano "comeback" LOVE SONGS doubly fascinating is that after all the notoriety, this is wholly a traditional set of Billie Holiday-like standards. Accompanied by the fine contemporary pianist, Jessica Williams, Waters takes on some of the most revered jazz tunes in the canon: "My Foolish Heart," "Someone To Watch Over Me," Holiday's "Don't Explain" and "Fine and Mellow," among others. Though they're sung relatively straight, the singer's hushed emotiveness is still very much in evidence and, as this satisfying set unfolds, one is reminded how much Patty Waters was in the jazz tradition all along. Though she took it to extremes on her debut, the prodigal daughter has now come home.