Rhian Benson - Gold Coast
Rhian Benson
Gold Coast
Sugarbread/DKG Music 2003
Produced by James Poyser, Bob Power, Rhian Benson and China Danforth
Personnel (selected):
bass - James Genus, Pino Palladino, Alphonso Johnson
drums - Omar Hakim, Ndugu Chancler, Walfredo Reyes Jr.
fender rhodes, hammond b3 - James Poyser
horns - Roy Hargrove
programming - Bob Power
guitars - Bob Power, Lionel Loueke, Joel Whitley
This is executive produced by super studio bassist Pino Palladino (everyone frome D'Angelo to the Who) and his supple grooveplaying is all over this disk. That is about where the best parts begin and end. That is not to say that this debut does not have some warm spots to offer the casual listener, therein lies the problem...it doesn't offer much more than surface.
Rhian Benson is a Ghana-born, but otherwise globetrotting singer who has a voice that definately tries to cover the same spaces a Sade and Sarah Webb, but does not quite come up to it. It lacks the lushness of the former and the grit and funk of the latter. The songs on this album that could use some dirt -Stealing My Piece of Mind and Invincible are good examples- it resorts to a super slickness that puts things as almost elevator fodder. The songs that should have a fuller sound end up sounding pedestrian (i.e. Say How I Feel). For that reason, this album treads a little too much into a space rife with lite-jazz poppishness and neo-soul conventions.
The lyrics are not particularly impressive, but neither do they get in the way...much. Rhian herself, has a damn fine set of pipes, and does not try to do the vocal pyrotechnics so popular with the pop-bimbo set.
The playing on the songs are not lacking in and of themselves; it is hard to go wrong with some of the lineup here. They simply don't go the full distance, and when they do start to turn up the heat, the production washes it out. This is a decent debut, but considering the result, the full potential of Rhian has not been reached. If you find this in a bargain bin and like
---
You might like this album if you like:
Sade - Diamond Life
Eric Benet - A Day in the Life
Erykah Badu - Baduizm
Everything But the Girl - The Language of Life
Gold Coast
Sugarbread/DKG Music 2003
Produced by James Poyser, Bob Power, Rhian Benson and China Danforth
Personnel (selected):
bass - James Genus, Pino Palladino, Alphonso Johnson
drums - Omar Hakim, Ndugu Chancler, Walfredo Reyes Jr.
fender rhodes, hammond b3 - James Poyser
horns - Roy Hargrove
programming - Bob Power
guitars - Bob Power, Lionel Loueke, Joel Whitley
This is executive produced by super studio bassist Pino Palladino (everyone frome D'Angelo to the Who) and his supple grooveplaying is all over this disk. That is about where the best parts begin and end. That is not to say that this debut does not have some warm spots to offer the casual listener, therein lies the problem...it doesn't offer much more than surface.
Rhian Benson is a Ghana-born, but otherwise globetrotting singer who has a voice that definately tries to cover the same spaces a Sade and Sarah Webb, but does not quite come up to it. It lacks the lushness of the former and the grit and funk of the latter. The songs on this album that could use some dirt -Stealing My Piece of Mind and Invincible are good examples- it resorts to a super slickness that puts things as almost elevator fodder. The songs that should have a fuller sound end up sounding pedestrian (i.e. Say How I Feel). For that reason, this album treads a little too much into a space rife with lite-jazz poppishness and neo-soul conventions.
The lyrics are not particularly impressive, but neither do they get in the way...much. Rhian herself, has a damn fine set of pipes, and does not try to do the vocal pyrotechnics so popular with the pop-bimbo set.
The playing on the songs are not lacking in and of themselves; it is hard to go wrong with some of the lineup here. They simply don't go the full distance, and when they do start to turn up the heat, the production washes it out. This is a decent debut, but considering the result, the full potential of Rhian has not been reached. If you find this in a bargain bin and like
---
You might like this album if you like:
Sade - Diamond Life
Eric Benet - A Day in the Life
Erykah Badu - Baduizm
Everything But the Girl - The Language of Life
posted by theloniusfunk at 12:49 AM
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