A pretty amazing set from Esther Phillips – her final album for Kudu – and a beautiful mix of soaring soul sounds from one the most unique, emotionally-inflected soul vocalists of her era! Esther's in prime Kudu mode here – working with jazzy arrangements by David Matthews and Pee Wee Ellis, adding her unique, grit-inflected soul chanteuse vocals to a smoother mix of instrumentation that creates a perfect counterpoint that took her way past her earlier work! There's also a couple of really sweet disco skewed numbers that work incredibly well – with spacier bits of synth and a dancefloor soul bed of percussion and rhythms – and in general, the arrangements are pretty great from track-to-track! Players include Randy Brecker and Mike Brecker on trumpet and tenor sax, Bray Miles on synthesizer, Bobby Lyle on clavinet, Eric Gale on guitar, Joe Farrell on tenor sax and alto flute, percussionist Ralph MacDonald and other excellent name musicians and others bring a grand sweep and sweeter intimacy when the mood requires. Titles include "Magic's In The Air", "A Beautiful Friendship", "Boy I Really Tied One On", "Higher & Higher", and "All The Way Down". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

The 3rd in Lorez's excellent series of albums dedicated to the songs of Johnny Mercer – and like previous volumes, recorded with some very soulful backing from the Gildo Mahones quartet! Gildo brings a gentle swing to the tracks that lets Lorez sing in a free and open range – one that she often didn't reach in earlier, more restricted albums. The set doesn't have any of the standout funk numbers of some of Lorez's other Mahones sets – but it is a really tasty one overall, with tracks that include I'm Building Up To An Awful Let Down", "Day In Day Out", "That Old Black Magic", "Bittersweet", "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home", and "Midnight Sun". LP, Vinyl record album