Language of Life

How many jazz musicians can you invite to contribute to your pop album?

Everything But The Girl's "Language of Life" is one seminal album that will remain as one of my favorite of all times. It is an exquisitely crafted piece of art and performed with the accompaniment of more than 10 acclaimed jazz sessionists of that time (1990).

Here is a sample of who the sessionists were and they were a real "Who's Who List" of the 80's Jazz era:

• Omar Hakim - drums 
• John Patitucci - bass guitar 
• Larry Williams - synths 
• Joe Sample - piano 
• Russell Ferrante - piano 
• Lenny Castro - percussion 
• Stan Getz - tenor sax 
• Michael Brecker - tenor sax 
• Kirk Whalum - tenor sax 
• Jerry Hey - flugel 

Usually with such a cast one would worry that "too many cooks will spoil the soup" but in this album it was not the case at all and the talents of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt were beautifully showcased as the music was fantastic!

This album really proves that you can have it all and still make it all sound great! I am sure many would envy them (and Tony Lipuma) for assembling such a cast of talents. This is "pop" at its best!

Here is another great song from EBTG:

Doobie Brothers vs ZZ Top

Its the final face-off between The Doobie Brothers and ZZ Top as they fight it out for The Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame honours for 2013!



You can still vote to choose your favorite band before the close on Jan 5, 2014 here

As a tribute to The Doobie Brothers (which is my choice!) here is one of my favorite track from their album The Captain and Me (1973):




For collectors and fans check out the Original Album Series 5CD compilation box sets featuring their most memorable albums at a very nice price!