Brilliant work from the great Ellen McIllwaine! Ellen's certainly not a soul artist -- but she's got a particularly soulful approach to folk rock -- one that's made her a favorite of groovers worldwide in the past few decades, thanks to a big push from Gilles Peterson, and the club scene in Tokyo and Germany! The approach on this record is kind of like a mixture between Chaka Khan and Joni Mitchell -- lots of upbeat grooves, mixed with jazzy acoustic guitar and some wonderfully soaring vocals -- in a style that needs to be heard to be fully understood. The standout cut is the amazing "Jimmy Jean", a soaring jazzy dance cut with unbelievable vocals -- and other nice ones include "Sliding", "Ain't No Two Ways", and "All To You".
Tracks
1. Ain't No Two Ways About It (It's Love) - 4:26
2. All To You - 3:05
3. Sliding - 2:52
4. Never Tell Your Mother She's Out Of Tune (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown) - 2:25
5. Farther Along (Traditional) - 3:44
6. I Don't Want To Play - 3:20
7. Underground River - 3:54
8. Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven (But Nobody Wants To Die) (Al Fields, Timmie Rogers, Tom Delaney) - 2:25
9. Jimmy Jean - 2:59
10.We The People - 3:23
All songs by Ellen McIlwaine except where stated
Track 10 Recorded Live At Carnegie Hall, New York
Musicians
*Ellen McIlwaine - Guitars, Vocals
*James Madison - Drums
*Don Payne - Bass
*Gerry Mercer - Drums
*Don Moore - Bass
*Thad Holiday - Bass, Vocals
*Don Kaplan - Piano
*Colin Tilton - Saxophone
*Candido - Conga
*Bill Curtis - Conga
*Bill Keith - Pedal Steel
Related Act
