Superbly Soaring Jazz
Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 03/11/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Many early US fans of Deodato are familiar with his work from Prelude forward, but not many of us have been familiar with Deodato's other work. The IRMA record company and Deodato himself are now making it possible for us to really experience the roots of his rare talent.
In the past couple of years, I have had the good fortune to acquire quite a few earlier Deodato recordings from this site as well as from my favorite music stores. Several of those I have reviewed here. Skyscrapers stands out as the best of a string of absolutely superb recordings and if it were possible to rate it as better than five stars, I would do so.
The CD begins eponymously, with the spirited and stately title track sounding not very much different from the version presented to US audiences on Deodato 2. Then the music moves into unfamiliar territory. Every track is a masterpiece of 60s jazz, with a seamless blend of organ, piano, percussion, and horns filling the listener with mellow feelings of bliss. I've had it looping in the office for the past several days and I feel as though I'm in musical heaven.
Though every tune is a winner, if I were asked to pick favorites, I'd choose The Gap, so reminiscent of the early work of Chuck Mangione; Boy Meets Girl, an inspiring and upbeat piece of music; and finally the magnificent Carly and Carole, which is largely known to US audiences via the faster version on the Prelude CD.
Skyscrapers is literally filled with superbly soaring instrumental jazz from the first note to the last and has the power to start anyone's day on a positive note. I highly recommend you seek this out and get it wherever you can and at any price you can. Its that good!"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1