Rendezvous In Rio

Product Description A mainstay of the contemporary jazz scene since the 70s, jazz vocalist and composer Michael Franks delivers a long-awaited studio recording capturing his signature songwriting style that has garnered legions of dedicated fans. RENDEZVOUS IN RIO contains 10 new original songs with distinctive arrangments from long time collaborators: Jeff Lorber, Jimmy Haslip, Russell Ferrante, Chuck Loeb and others. Amazon.com As one of the prime movers in that select sub-group of white folk-pop singers who have found a home in Brazilian style (Kenny Rankin is a "similar urban AOR rival," to quote a customer review), contemporary jazz artist Michael Franks has aged pretty well--if not all that gracefully. As a guy who resorts to couplets like "The clothes on my back/Are too Pasternak," he probably shouldn't be waxing philosophical about how "feeble" and "pedantic" critics are ("The Critics Are Never Kind," a musical-derived number on which Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Degas commiserate). Franks also makes music his subject too often for his own good, celebrating "The Cool School" in self-congratulatory fashion and the first time he heard "Take Five"--he says Dave Brubeck's beloved version, though his use of bleating smooth jazz saxist Eric Marienthal to evoke the great Paul Desmond makes you wonder. But his vocals are breezy and intimate, and the instrumental settings provided by a cast including guitarist Chuck Loeb and keyboardist David Sancious are attractive without being too slick. Fans whose "inner harmony always turns blue in the end" won't be able to resist the wistful pull of the songs. --Lloyd Sachs