Customer Reviews
Nice one Joe!!!! - By: Proudmomofagayson, 01 Nov 2003 
I first heard Joe Sample on the latest Eric Clapton album, Reptile & was immediately hooked & wanted to find out anything & everything I could about him. This lead me to this album, the first album I have heard of his & wow, what an album it is too. It certainly doesn't disappoint.
A lot of Jazz musicians employ soulful singers & the results are nearly always cheesy, Stanley Clarke & Bob James being two examples but not on this outing. The fresh-voiced talent of newcomer Lizz Wright lends an added dimension to tracks "No One But Myself to Blame" & "Fool's Gold" while Howard Hewett is ever-dependable on tracks "In a Heartbeat" & "With These Hands".
For the first half of the album, Joe remains quite restrained, only playing what he needs to & nothing more which is fine & show him to be a performer who has a willingness to balance light & shade & it'sin the stripping back, that one sees what a gifted & impeccable artist Joe is. However, it's on a couple of the later tracks, "El Dorado" & "The Texas Two Step" that we see Joe really stepping out & showing us why he is heldin such high regard by fellow performers & fans alike.
This is a highly accomplished album from one of Jazz music's great innovators. The production is pristine without sounding glossy & the other musicians all shine without anything sounding cluttered. I love this album. It seems to get better with each listen & I am forever finding new things that I missed the times before & that to me, marks a good album for sure. Just listen to the short solo on Track 9 "With These Hands" & tell me that it's not lyrical & beautiful.
Highly recommended.
Tasty, Breezy, Tall Buildings music - By: , 22 Feb 2003 My first Joe Sample CD although it had been a long timein the coming. Plenty of dischordant surprises to keep even the most ardent jazz ear cocked. I preferred the up-tempo instumental numbers, but that's my tipple. Play while driving through crowded city streets.
