Search - Gino Vannelli :: A Good Thing

Gino V's Latest (And Welcomed) Comeback!!!

Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 03/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gino Vannelli's output over the last decade and a half has been fairly sporatic,pretty typical of what's happened to a lot of people who were musical giants in the 70's. So....while it is true that Gino's innovating days may be over;you cannot go on forever making music like Storm at Sunup over and over again. But that doesn't mean the man doesn't have a lot of great music left in him. This latest from him features nine new songs written by the man himself. The music itself finds a great balance between the nightclub jazz style of much of Gino's more recent music with the R&B of his past,finding a middle ground over which he can lay down his greatest instrument;his voice. Many Gino fans agree that Gino's voice has aged well.In this case I'd tend to agree.In fact I'd go as far to say he sounds more youthful,passionate and energized then he did when he was at his prime. There's no sense of being show-offsky here at all.On the title song,"Night","Knight Of The Road","Evermore" and "Don't Give Up" all put out the best of the sound this album's going for.There's some excellent fender rhodes soloing here,along with some sweet saxaphone.There's also a lot of blues in these tunes with a little light countryish pedal steel thrown in for good measure. On such tunes as "Gypsy Days" the rhythm is turned up a notch and,as with everything Gino does his lyrics are cosmic and top notch.On the highly jazzy "The Dutchboat" and the very funky R&B of "The Measure Of A Man" Gino does up the tempo on two major grooves. The only sad thing about this album is,at the moment it's only been released overseas and for the moment anyway it seems to be unavailable. Hopefully that's a temporary oversight and this will deservadly be available for everyone to enjoy it as they should."

Better Than Good...One of the Best!

Deinara | Hamilton, Ohio USA | 06/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A Good Thing



"A Good Thing" is king....of my music bling, and will live on in my heart "Evermore". The musical arrangements are a superb supporting cast for Gino's "divino voce" vocals; and you get a bonus book of poetry.



The jazzy, bluesy, introduction of the first song...A Good Thing...alerts to the intimacy of the experience to come. When I hear it, I feel as if I am in a very intimate music venue, and as Gino and company perform, my surroundings simply disappear as I become caught up in his artistic world. The tune is a sleek, seductive, soulful, siren song, and I just love it. The acoustic piano and horn arrangements are exquisite complement. The composition is one of my favorites. Other favorites include: Night Drive, Gypsy Days, Knight of the Road, Evermore, Measure of a Man, and Don't Give Up.



"Night" is a poignant lament of personal anguish and emotional hurt when one feels that the fruits of love's labors may be lost. "Gypsy" is a very favorite; a tale of halcyon days of carefree, intense, love and bonding in times past. The acoustic piano, saxophone, and soft, intermittent, background vocals "lullaby" are just perfection.



"Knight" perhaps explores Gino's worldly, adventurous, and meaningful quests for truth and artistic inspiration, while creating and sharing his musical gifts all along the way; and "Evermore" is simply lovely about love. "Measure"(love the video) is a Latin-influenced, up-tempo, dance number that espouses using a yardstick for measuring "manliness' I certainly support. "Don't" homogenizes musical arrangement, background vocals, and Gino's powerful voice to shout a soulful lament of reaffirmation and recommitment.



"A Good Thing" (to paraphrase a quote from Gino's poem "Dante's Garden"),as a "...single assignment...to labor, putting spirit to ink and paper"...gets an A+ from this reviewer.



Artistic genius is deeply personal, as the artist often expresses/exposes so much of him or herself in their work, frequently remaining true to self---despite the costs (personal and professional). When that genius has the fearless courage to put their artistic expression (a part of their very soul) out there, for all of humanity's critique and commentary for all time; we should feel admiration for the gesture even if we do not exactly applaud the work.



I love Gino Vannelli's music, and feel so honored that he has shared this particular expression of his soul. When I finished listening to the album and reading the book, I put them back together, held them to my chest, and simply embraced them.



Listen to the music. Read the book. Ponder the messages. I hope you will embrace them too...at least figuratively if not literally :)

"

Just like new

A. lombardi Jr. | north cape may, nj United States | 09/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this is a great cd, just got it last week and been playing it over and over,

out of the last 4 cds gino has put out this is the best by far,

canto was great but not a jazz cd, great cd but in a different area , great love songs on that.

this is better than 'slow love' and better than 'these are the days ' which has some good songs on it and you should get that one also,

but this is back to the strong vocals and great back up singers like in the old days from 'brother to brother' ,

the video on the new cd is great also, check it out on ginov.com

i would get this one if you like gino ,

its worth the money I paided"