Carol Duboc may be new name to some, but I venture that this Lady is in fact very familiar to you already for her superb writing ability. This Lady wrote the songs "Precious" by Chanté Moore, "I Would Never Do You Wrong" by Stephanie Mills and "Slow And Gentle" by Ricky Lawson & Friends amongst many others. As you know, all these tracks are excellent and can so ascertain how good this CD is put all in the quality bracket so this gives us a very worthwhile yardstick. Well, let’s put it this way – if you own Will Downing albums, Marilyn Scott albums and such like then you should really be looking at owning this too. What Carol Duboc is about is jazz with a soulful twist and a splash of Latin for good measure. Some hefty names are also involved with this album and also help solidify the quality basis on which this CD is founded, which is Carol’s excellent writing and angelic vocal abilities. These include Patrice Rushen on keyboards, Luis Conte on percussion, Hubert Laws on flute, Gerald Albright on saxophone, Wayne Johnson on guitar, Jeff Lorber on keyboards and the late, great Patrick Moten on piano and composition.
There are 9 original compositions that are all first rate and 3 covers, two of which are the poor relations of the album. The best cover version is a cover of Wayne Shorter’s 1966 classic "El Gaucho" which is simply blinding. "Away", this breezy Latin number sets the mood on this gorgeous CD; I hear the music of Gabriella Anders, Marilyn Scott and Sergio Mendes encapsulated in this rhythm and as such it is a real taste of summer. "This Is No Ordinary Love" is a KILLER by every standard set. Easily comparable, musically, to the cream cuts on Brenda Russell’s "Paris Rain" album. The following cut is a heady mix of jazz, dazzling over with flute and raw percussion and the bass line and vocal angle reminds me of Erykah Badu’s less juvenile material such as "Didn’t Cha Know". This mix of sounds really is fantastic and should appeal to both jazz-heads and neo-soul devotees. Those of you who were astute enough to check out and enjoy the last Carole King CD for the scintillating soul / jazz offerings contained thereon should warm to "I Wanna Love Someone". This has all the hallmarks of the classic songs "You Can Do Anything" and "I Didn’t Wanna Fall In Love" from said Carole King set (if you do not have that CD then please check it out as it is ESSENTIAL.)
The Vibe Scribe
Buy from Amazon
