Chieli Minucci - Sweet On You (2000)

“

Just as Ed Hamilton played it cool and safe when he signed on with Shanachie for Groovology, Chieli Minucci's solo debut for the label features a bit less edge, a bit more pop, and much more of a kick back vibe than his early solo efforts for JVC. It's not that Sweet on You lacks adventure; it's simply a more in the pocket variety. Whereas in the past, he might wow us with wacky multi-movement jam sessions, on tunes like "Hot 100" he opens with an hypnotic, swaying atmosphere, then bursts into a staccato melody featuring muted electric guitar, synth vibes, and horns over a punchy live percussion pattern. The middle of the track features some easy improvisation over a drifting atmosphere featuring a subtle blues keyboard harmony. While past albums featured elongated spiritual passages loaded with space, Minucci's equivalent here is "Breaking Away," which features a gently soaring duet with pianist Jay Rowe that smacks of the Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays approach over a subtle locomotive throb. Minucci also mines wah-wah inflected retro-soul turf on "Around the World," and hits smooth jazz pay dirt on the very Special EFX like "Endless Summer," and the Brazilian tinged title cut, whose easy wordless vocals by Rosanna Vitro make it sound like a classic Joyce Cooling cut.

”

Tracklist

1. Endless Summer
2. Sweet On You
3. Hot 100
4. On The Up An' Up
5. Everytime You're Near
6. Breaking Away
7. Little Squirt
8. Around The World
9. My Girl Sunday
10. Journey To You
11. Farewell





personnel:

Chieli Minucci.......Pensa-Suhr and Hohner electric guitars, Scharpach acoustic guitar, Gibson 1970 SG electric guitar, Orozco classical guitar, Gibson Chet Atkins electric/acoustic guitar, Ovation 12-string acoustic guitar, keyboards, programming
David Mann.......soprano and tenor saxophones, flute
Jerry Brooks....bass
Fernando Saunders.....fretless bass on “Farewell”
Gerald Albright.....soprano sax on “Endless Summer”
Philip Hamilton.......percussion, vocals
David Charles...... percussion
Armsted Christian.....vocals
Rosanna Vitro.....vocal on “Sweet On You”
Stan Harrison...... alto sax on “Hot 100” & “Little Squirt”
Lenny Pickett...... tenor sax on “Hot 100” & “Little Squirt”
Barry Danielian.......trumpet on “Hot 100” & “Little Squirt”
Jay Rowe..... acoustic grand piano on “Breaking Away”
Werner “Vana” Gierig..... acoustic grand piano on “Around The World”