Even as the smooth jazz
format has grown over the past ten years, its annals are unfortunately littered
with many artists whose promise fell victim to poor promotion, folding labels, and
unending label limbo. While many (i.e. Chris Boardman, Gary Herbig, Bill
Bergman) seemed to give up the fight to focus on more lucrative side endeavors,
Thom Rotella - who faced six years of this musical purgatory after three hit
albums on DMP from 1987 to 1990, chose to struggle through the bleak period of
turn-downs from seemingly every label in the genre. The title of his comeback
album, Can't Stop reflects this brazen spirit in the face of all those
rejection letters. But Rotella realized that the type of lightweight acoustic
guitar music that launched his career was no longer en vogue and might not
stand out among the competition in 1997; to get back in the game, he needed
more substance, more grit. While Rotella fans from way back might think the crackling,
electric Wes Montgomery-flavored licks on Can't Stop are a departure, the
guitarist is simply reverting back to the style he intended to begin his solo
career with all along. It's notable not only for Rotella's thicker production
values and bolder sense of improvisation, but also for the pointed
conversations he has with the horns of Rick Braun (trumpet and flugelhorn) and
Gerald Albright (sax); none of his old albums had sax embellishment at all. On
"Belly Up," he textures Land Richards' live drums with shuffling
loops, blending his own fluid electric lines with a wah-wah guitar track, and
weaving Albright's tenor through a veil of appearing, then disappearing bluesy
keyboard lines by Jim Studer. On the feisty title track, Rotella starts with a
groove foundation of Richards, percussionist Vail Johnson and percussionist
Arno Lucas. Above this, Rotella's fluid lines gallop along, each verse
culminating in a dual flourish of muted trumpet and guitar; Braun takes a solo,
and then backs off so Rotella can wail away. ~ by Jonathan Widran,
AMG.
Telarc Jazz Zone, CD 83416, 1997
Recorded 1997 At JAM Studio,
Phat Cat Studio & Twin Sons Studio
Musicians:
Thom Rotella - Guitar,
Keyboards, Synthesizer, Synthesizer Bass, Drum Programming, Percussion Programming
Chris Tedesco - Flugelhorn,
Trumpet, Trumpet [Muted]
Joe Turano - Soprano Saxophone
Jim Studer - Keyboards,
Synthesizer, Drum & Percussion Programming
Larry Cohn - Keyboards, Piano
[Electric]
Chris Rhyne - Keyboards,
Synthesizer
Land Richards - Drums, Drum &
Percussion Programming, Synthesizer Bass
Arno Lucas - Percussion
Guests:
Gerald Albright - Soprano
Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Rick Braun - Flugelhorn,
Trumpet [Muted]
Mitchel Forman - Piano
[Electric], Synthesizer
Vail Johnson - Bass
Tracks:
01. What's The Story? {Thom
Rotella} (4:35)
02. Mood {Thom Rotella}
(4:29)
03. Dance The Night Away
{Thom Rotella} (4:47)
04. Lights Out {Thom Rotella}
(4:45)
05. Can't Stop {Thom Rotella}
(5:12)
06. As Close As We Can Get
{Thom Rotella} (5:02)
07. The Thought Of You {Thom
Rotella} (5:11)
08. Belly Up {Thom Rotella}
(5:01)
09. If Only {Land Richards,
Thom Rotella} (4:47)
10. Stay The Night {Thom
Rotella} (4:35)
Total Time: 48:24
Credits:
Producer, Engineer - Thom
Rotella
Executive Producer - Robert
Woods
Engineer, Mixing - Matt Hyde
Mastering - Geoff Sykes
