Wounded Bird have been chiseling away at quality re-releases for some time, and I have relished their re-issues by Lenny White, Patrice Rushen, The System, Eric Gale and Stanley Turrentine. I have always loved Pieces Of A Dream, and when they turn their collective mind to they come up trumps every time. I do find some of their instrumental work, even if the legendary and sorely missed Grover Washington Jr is involved, rather tame and, dare I say it, twee. There is plenty of that on here, but I want to draw your attention to four cracking tracks - three of which are vocals - that no self-respecting soul / jazz fans should do without. We always associate "Warm Weather" with the group, and rightly so, but a track that equally deserves the plaudits is the SUPERB ballad "It's Time For Love" which as soulful as anything they have ever done. The warm, balmy groove, guitar and Sax courtesy of Grover Washington Jr is simply to die for. Cedric Napoleon is the master vocalist here and provides us with one of THE performances of the group's history to date. The second vocal monster, "Fo-Fi-Fo" was released as a single in the US and performed quite well, and was a favourite here on Radio One on DJ Robbie Vincent's Sunday night show. Cedric's vocals on this midtempo number are joyous, as is the melody, he reminds me of then contemporary Motown artist Finis Henderson on this cut. My favourite midtempo number is the SUPERB Jones Girls-ish "Foreverlasting Love" featuring Marilyn Ashford and Charlene Jones on vocals. This really does cut the mustard, and Grover gets in on the action too and blows some real soul into the set. These tracks really do blow the cobwebs from the more lightweight muzak inclusions. The final cut is a superb version of Herbie Hancock's classic "Tell Me A Bedtime Story", and really is a lot meatier than the other instrumentals on offer. If only the other songs were approached with the same zeal and spirit then this would have been one hell of a killer set indeed. That aside, this is a must-have release and one that I had been requesting for YEARS. Thanks to Wounded Bird for this re-release. By the way...Wounded Bird want to be contacted with suggestions so PLEASE pay a visit to www.woundedbird.com and get your demands in! An essential purchase.
Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe
The Vibe Scribe
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