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Larry Antonino |
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Village Strut |
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Friends of fine bass guitar music should take a look at Larry Antonino's debut album Village Strut. Born in Santa Cruz, CA, Larry is grown up in the heart of Smooth Jazz. So he has performed with stars of the scene like Ronnie Laws, The Jazz Crusaders, Jeff Beck, Bobby Caldwell and Al Jarreau. It was no problem to find for his album an extraordinary accompany like Rob Mullins, Freddie Ravel, Steve Oliver and Ron Pedley (Kombo). The label describes his music as "fresh and funky". And indeed these attributes are exactly the main ingredients of this album. Most of the bass players are performing in the deeper regions of the scale as one will notices on typical bass albums like Luico Hopper's Lessons Of Light, Chuck Smith's Basically Bass or The Kenny Wright Experience 's Comin' At Ya. Larry uses the bass as a lead instrument playing the melody. So I first thought he would play a guitar. A typical example is the first tune Santa Ana. A very melodious piece, Larry plays the main theme and accompanies himself on keyboards adding some accords. Steve Oliver plays a perfect guitar solo. The tune is smooth and pleasing. On I knew that love would find me Larry reveals his qualities as a singer. This tune is more to be settled into the area of the pop music. Nevertheless the melody is hooking in the tradion of elder rock songs. The title song Village Strut is a walk through funky town. Rob Mullins and Larry are the ideal duo for a superior performance. Larry shows up his incredible speed and skill on bass guitar and Rob's solo is breathtaking too. Anyway if one of the above mentioned artists should visit your region, don't miss their concert. They are very good live performancers too. But Larry also understand to put down in scene a romantic mood as one can hear on Always With You. Pamela's Song is a typical ear catcher with a radio-like melody. Steve's guitar solo is the right cream-bonnet. Listening to Cruisin In Houston I had strong associations to Steve Miller's Fly Like An Eagle. So remembering this tune you will find Larry's Cruisin' similiar and of same musical level. On Full Circle Larry demonstrates his talent as drum programmer. Combined with Mike Faue's live percussion it sounds naturally and is the best back ground for the skillful bass and guitar performances. A sensible and contemplative love song is Larry's Love Was Strong. Yes, without any restrictions I can state, Larry can sing. Sharing his wonderful voice with his instrumental skills he is quite near to George Benson. An uptempo final tune is Back In Your Arms Again. This rhythm emphatic piece has a nice salsa flavor with Freddie Ravel's masterly piano solo and Michael Lent's easy played guitar solo. Although this one is a self-released album, it's easy to find in internet. So take the chance to sample this album and I 'm sure that you 'll find it interesting and worth to buy.
© HBH |
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The musicians:
More informations:
Soundsamples are to find atLarry Antonino's debut CD "Village Strut" is now available at
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