Good grief! Does this man sound like Barry White or what?! The voice is deep, it growls with a barely restrained male passion and has the same intonations as our late, great, Hero. I am sure this is intentional, and the music that Cornelius employs is also very much in the Barry White bag too with horns, strings and Love Unlimited styled backing vocals. The groove though is dedicated to the stepping phenomenon; yet another dance that would make me look like an arthritic scarecrow stuck in glue! “Step Baby” is the said song, and very good it is too! The muted trumpet, reverberating guitars and synth work very nicely in tandem with the warmly familiar delivery. The CD is but a four-tracker and by “Lifetime Of Love” we already half way through! No matter…the sexy groove again uses synth strings, 70s styled guitar and passionate vocals in the Barry White bag. I appreciate the restrained electric guitar that opens the song; not up to Ernie Isley’s handiwork but still very welcome! This man really does have his own musical fingerprint though, and I can listen to this style all day quite happily. This song is very much what I would recommend to those who love their soul music in a more traditional style. Tracks three and four have a more contemporary leaning. On “Do It”, Cornelius is addressing his Lady love, and the keys used here to permit this delivery are very much late 80s, the beat programmed and slightly on the street side, though this works very well. I can imagine this being a good play for radio. The same can be said for the oddly titled “Work That Neck” which has our hero sound a little more like Larry Graham than Barry White, especially with the funky guitar and ticking drum beat in the forefront. OK, only 4 songs but all 4 are worthwhile and better than anything coming out of the big companies so I am pleased. Here’s to more from Cornelius MD very soon.Wednesday 11 February 2009
Cornelius MD - Step Baby
Good grief! Does this man sound like Barry White or what?! The voice is deep, it growls with a barely restrained male passion and has the same intonations as our late, great, Hero. I am sure this is intentional, and the music that Cornelius employs is also very much in the Barry White bag too with horns, strings and Love Unlimited styled backing vocals. The groove though is dedicated to the stepping phenomenon; yet another dance that would make me look like an arthritic scarecrow stuck in glue! “Step Baby” is the said song, and very good it is too! The muted trumpet, reverberating guitars and synth work very nicely in tandem with the warmly familiar delivery. The CD is but a four-tracker and by “Lifetime Of Love” we already half way through! No matter…the sexy groove again uses synth strings, 70s styled guitar and passionate vocals in the Barry White bag. I appreciate the restrained electric guitar that opens the song; not up to Ernie Isley’s handiwork but still very welcome! This man really does have his own musical fingerprint though, and I can listen to this style all day quite happily. This song is very much what I would recommend to those who love their soul music in a more traditional style. Tracks three and four have a more contemporary leaning. On “Do It”, Cornelius is addressing his Lady love, and the keys used here to permit this delivery are very much late 80s, the beat programmed and slightly on the street side, though this works very well. I can imagine this being a good play for radio. The same can be said for the oddly titled “Work That Neck” which has our hero sound a little more like Larry Graham than Barry White, especially with the funky guitar and ticking drum beat in the forefront. OK, only 4 songs but all 4 are worthwhile and better than anything coming out of the big companies so I am pleased. Here’s to more from Cornelius MD very soon.
