Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Fusion CD of the Month - "Toco: Island Dreams"

Fusion CD of the Month
TOCO: "Island Dreams" (Shine Your Light Music)

Rating: **** (musical performance & sonic quality)

Legendary NY keyboardist/composer Tom Coppola (of "Air" fame) just sent me a copy of his new project: Toco's "Island Dreams," which includes the last recordings by his late wife Googie Coppola, a singer's singer who worked with Hermeto Pascoal, Jeremy Steig, Ray Barretto, Flora Purim and many others. Googie's vocals can be heard on "Fire Chant" and "Jackalantan."

Also featured on this delightful album, full of intoxicating grooves: Lou Volpe (guitar on "Moko Jumbie"), Bobby Porcelli (alto sax on "Golden Spoon") and Johnny Almendra (percussion on "Moko Jumbie").

Coppola plays Fender Rhodes, Moog and other vintage keyboards on 10 tracks that cover many musical styles: from samba-funk (the opening track, "Beach Bird," is a killer song that will appeal to Azymuth fans) to r&b ballads ("Golden Spoon"); from reggae ("Loup Garou") to trance ("Airman"); from jazz-funk ("Tailwind") to latin-jazz ("Moko Jumbie").

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