Soul Embrace

Artist: Richard Elliot Label: Blue Note Records Category: Music Average customer rating: Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 077779894628 EAN: 0077779894628 ASIN: B000002V1K Release Date: 1993-01-12

Listmania:

1. Eclectic Amalgamation VI-- My last 'few' purchases.

Tracks:

1. Sweat
2. Sweet Dream
3. Deep Blue
4. I'm Not In Love
5. Promises
6. Because I Love You
7. Just Do It
8. Embrace
9. Never Gonna Break Your Heart
10. Heartland
11. Calle Del Sol
12. By The Fire
13. Lost In A Minute
14. Up All Night
15. Alone At Sea

Similar Items:

1. After Dark
2. Jumpin' Off
3. Chill Factor
4. City Speak
5. Crush

Customer Reviews:

A soulful, powerful and soaring smooth jazz classic!.......2004-04-05

Many familiar classics of Elliot's appear on this stunningly beautiful album of his. The most familiar of the popular radio classics is more than likely "Sweet Dream". Just about every smooth jazz lover would be very familiar with this track. I've heard it many times on the radio when as a kid but buying this album made me love this song all over again. "Sweat" is another timeless smooth jazz classic that I have loved for many years. I love the somewhat tropical beginning of the song with the quirky piano riff and the eerie ambient intro in the background before it becomes a funky and eclectic groove with amazing saxophone playing and awesome keyboards. I don't know what it is about this song but God I love this song. I heard it many times before buying this album but I have come to love this already excellent classic all over again.

Other notable radio hits are the eloquent classic "By The Fire" and "Because I Love You". The latter song I feel deserves a review all on it's own. I don't know what it is about this song but WOW! This is a really hauntingly beautiful song that is a hallmark of a classic. It is a very sweet song with a strong atmospheric sound and a crystal clear melody unrivalled by most peers. I love the soaring saxophone playing amidst the angelic keyboards and the positive natured melody. I really miss the beauty of this style in much of today's smooth jazz. I feel like I'm almost flying over green grasslands on a cool partly cloudy afternoon when listening to this track. It's that beautiful. Fabulous Job Richard! I feel that our entertainment needs more sweet-natured music nowadays. I've had enough of the so called `tough guy' stuff that is shoved in our faces.

However, it's also a lot of the songs never heard on radio that are among the best on this album. My favorite song on this album is "Deep Blue". This classic has a very upbeat and warm sunny mood, and a highly danceable beat combined with very unique electronic beeping sound effects that perfectly blend with the songs rhythm. I especially love the song towards the last minute as it climaxes before it fades into the night. "Calle De Soul" has a really fun tropical Brazilian color to it with the cafý-oriented groove tone to it. There are two songs on here that actually have lyrics to them, both of which are good. "Never Gonna Break Your Heart" is a really beautiful and soulful ballad. "Lost In A Minute" is a more New Jack Swing style song. Both of them are great but sometimes suffer from their lengths being a bit on the short side in my opinion. Otherwise, these are really excellent popular tracks that would've made a dent on the R&B or Adult Oriented charts.

The last two tracks "Up All Night" and "Alone At Sea" close this album on a high note. "Up All Night" is a very energetic and joyous classic with a fast beat and amazing keyboards. The song rises to a great climax that will leave you happy. "Alone At Sea" closes this CD on a high scale with a slightly more dramatic and serious tone. While most of this album is very sunny in nature, "Alone At Sea" has a more twilight mood. I love the haunting sound to it and the serious melody as it gives the sense of a boat sailing away into the sunset as the song fades away towards the end. I love the melodic changes too, going from A minor down to G major, back to A minor and down to F major and repeating the same change all over again as it draws this masterpiece album to a sunset close.

Smooth Jazz in general has been the genre of music that I've grown up on but Richard Elliot is among the standout artists over the years and "Soul Embrace" is in my opinion, the prime example of this fact. His music has a long lasting quality that has endured the passing of the years and the increasing lack of atmospherics in most modern smooth jazz but Elliot has mostly survived this. I strongly recommend buying his albums but make "Soul Embrace" the top choice for the album to start with and then I recommend getting "Chill Factor" and then go in any direction for there. These two albums are in my opinion, among his best albums of his career. "Soul Embrace" is one of the best modern jazz albums of the 20th century and I strongly recommend that you go and buy this album as soon as possible. It's worth every penny you might end up spending.

Start With This One..........2002-01-28

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7. Jazz Impressions of Japan ~ Dave Brubeck Quartet
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