If you're like me and grew up with Gloria and My Brown Eyed Girl then you may also have lost some interest in Van over the years as he meandered along his life path. I've also owned some fairly crappy re-issues of his vinyl classics on CD that are almost unlistenable. So it was with some hesitancy that I put his latest in my queu at Amazon to order when I needed the bump to the free-shipping minimum. And boy am I glad I just took the plunge. This is a nice album, well recorded and fun to listen to, even when Van takes over the Sax duties (okay, he's gotten better, if still not "good). Track 2, Going Down To Monte Carlo, is destined to be a new Van classic. Track 4, End of the Rainbow, is just a pretty tune so well recorded you can hear the true character and personality in a distinct voice that has entertained for so many years it's hard to believe. Enjoy the first cuts 'cause he certainly didn't save the best for later. At his age he's entitled to the occasional clunker. Even Donald Fagen has proven that recently.
Maybe it was the Amazon AutoRip feature that made me appreciate the CD version. Once ordered, Amazon includes a download into your Amazon Cloud library so I was able to listen to this on my iPhone through Bluetooth on testdrives before the CD arrived. Hey, it was free. But the CD is, as expected, much better than the download and if I remember correctly it cost just 50¢ more than the MP3 download alone
The horns (other than Van's alto sax) are great and well recorded and Paul Moore's bass playing is a treat, especially listening on the 4345s. Don't know anything about him other than his credits seem to include several other Van albums. I hope he gets more work! All in all, I'd recommend this album to Van Fans as well as those hungering for another well-recorded jazzy album to add to the collection.
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