Gino Vannelli still going strong well into the 80s – hitting this sweet blend of soul, rock, and crossover vibes – all in a style he virtually invented for himself in the 70s! The long perm look may have kept Gino out of crates in later years, but there's a top-quality feel to the record that's quite different than most of his contemporaries – a subtle sense of drama that's often undercut with a sense of soul, in ways that made Gino an undeniable influence on blue-eyed singers in years to come – as well as on a whole generation of R&B ballad singers too. Titles include "Santa Rosa", "Put The Weight On My Shoulders", "Stay With Me", "Sally", "Seek & You Shall Find", and "Living Inside Myself". CD

Mindblowing sounds from Gino Marinacci – a 70s Italian jazz flute player, and one who's got a vibe that's very different than most of his American contemporaries! Gino really likes to go for a cool compressed tone on his instrument – often creating these warm waves of sound that are balanced by the arrangements in a great way – sometimes paired with additional flute from Alfio Gagliani, as both artists shift between variations on the instrument – in a lineup that has electric piano and organ from Antonello Vannucchi, soprano and alto from Quarto Maroni, tenor from Livio Cervellieri and Sal Genovese, and some especially great work from the legendary trombonist Dino Piana – whose own sense of compression is a great balance with the flutes! The instrumentation also includes electric bass and guitar, which with the keyboards make for a great 70s vibe – a sound that's very soulful, but with qualities that are nicely different from American work on labels like CTI. Titles include "Life", "Guardrail", "Space", "Atom Flowers", "Walking Moon", "Actors Flute Studio", "Meeing", and "Sonatina In Beat". CD

A really standout bit of blue-eyed soul from Gino Vannelli – the kind of record that shouldn't be so great, but really holds up well over the years! The style is tight and studio-oriented – somewhere in the mode of Bobby Caldwell and some of Gino's other cross-over contemporaries – but the album avoids most adult contemporary cliches, and keeps things sounding pretty real overall with some good studio backing, and a sense of jazz amidst the tightness – a bit like Steely Dan, but more poppish. Titles include "The River Must Flow", "I Just Wanna Stop", "Love & Emotion", "Feel Like Flying", "Brother To Brother", "Wheels Of Life", "The Evil Eye", and "People I Belong To". LP, Vinyl record album