Solstice

Solstice The skinny on the new CD from Slim Man... ‘Solstice’ is the first CD of original material from pop/jazz/singer/songwriter Slim Man since ‘’jazzified’, which was voted ‘Best Contemporary Jazz CD’ by the JAZZIZ readers Poll in 2001. ‘Solstice’ is both a return and a departure--a return to the same studio where he recorded his first CD, ‘End of the Rainbow’, which yielded the Top Ten hit ‘Faith In Us’, and a departure in that it features a more guitar-based, pop/latin flavor. ‘Solstice’ features Spanish guitarist Marc Antoine, as well as the Slim Man Band (John Coale on drums, George Hazelriig on piano, Kevin Levi on sax, and Hit Man Howie Z. on percussion.) Slim Man sings and plays bass--not just any bass--a fretless Steinberger that was custom made for him by legendary bass craftsman Ned Steinberger. The sound is amazing. The CD has 9 original songs, including a version of ‘Summer Days’, a song that Slim Man wrote for Angela Bofill. who included the song on her debut CD ‘Angie’ which was one of the first CDs released by GRP Records, and was one of the first songs that Slim Man wrote while he was a songwriter at Motown. The song appears on ‘Solstice’ under the original title ‘Summer’s Almost Gone’, a title the record company thought was too melancholy. There are also two cover songs--a chilled-out version of ‘If I Were a Carpenter’, a song written by Tim Hardin, and a stirring rendition of ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good’, a song written by Nik Kershaw. Slim Man had written an original song for the CD, and soon realized that the melody for ‘If I Were a Carpenter’ fit perfectly over the chord changes of the song Slim Man wrote. Unable to get the Tim Hardin song out of his head, Slim Man recorded the vocals for ‘If I Were a Carpenter’, and it turned out so well that Mr. Man decided to abandon his original song, and to keep the Tim Hardin tune. While doing a tour of Germany with female jazz vocalist Randy Crawford, Slimmy heard a version of Nik Kershaw’s ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good’ playing on the CD player on the tour bus, and it became the theme song for the rest of the tour. Back in the USA, Slim Man asked George and Geoff Hazelrigg to produce a version of the song, and it appears on ‘Solstice’. ‘Solstice’ also features trumpeter Matt Cappy. Matt has recorded with Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Jill Scott. His solo on ‘Listen to the Wind’ is a perfect fit for the song.