Omar Sharif of the American band 'Groove Stu' send me their album for a review which I received just before my holiday. Normally my approach is to skip the tracks on a CD to get a first Impression. But this time I used a different approach. I listened to the CD when cruising to Austria for my yearly holiday with my family. This album made me very relaxed, even for my kids;-) The miles/km flew by. It was apparently a good idea to do it this way.

The journey starts with the first great track on this album 'Thing Called Love' a song with beautiful vocal harmonies. Next track 'Take A Chance' has the same ingredients as the previous track, nice guitar licks and vocals.The Featherstones produced track #3 'Make Believe'. The string arrangements on this track are smooth, the same is true for their other slow production 'Where I Wanna Be' (one of my favorites).

Marcus Miller released a new album called Renaissance on Concord records.

Another great reissue by Funkytowngrooves from the UK. It's Mtume's album 'You, Me And He' is originally released on EPIC records in 1984. This album is produced by James Mtume. The lead vocals are done by Tawatha Agee. The reissue is an expanded edition of this original record. This CD contains eight bonus tracks.

After 18 years Karyn White returns on the scene with a new album called 'Carpe Diem' on KWEntertainment Records. It contains 11 tracks varied from dance to pop.

Funkytowngrooves just released the first ever expanded CD release of George Duke's 1983 album Guardian Of The Light, Expanded with 3 bonus tracks.

This is a great funk album with tracks like 'Silly Fightin'', 'Reach Out' and the funky 'Stand'.

Ex Labelle member Nona Hendryx released a new album called 'Mutatis Mutandis' on Righteous Babe records. This is her first album in 20 years. 'Mutatis Mutandis' is a Latin phrase meaning "by changing those things which need to be changed". Listen to my favorite track 'Black on Black'.

Funkytowngrooves released the first time ever expanded - Remastered album of Champaign from the original mastertapes at Battery Studio's - New York. Originally released on Columbia in 1981 with the monster 'pop' hit 'How About Us'. The singer Pauli Carman was one on the members. This album reach #14 on the Billboard R&B Chart.

I had this album for years on the shelf but didn't took it to play. In all those years I missed great tracks like 'Can You Find The Time? '. A great boogie tune with nice synth sounds. Another nice track is 'Whiplash'.

Another great issue from the dutch reissuer Vinyl Masterpiece is the album Fantasy of Heaven and Earth from 1979 originally released on Mercury Records. This seven track album is a combination of soul and great funk tracks. It starts with the very funky track 'I Feel A Groove Under My Feet' and followed by part 2 of the same song. 'Poetry in a box' is 7 minutes pure pleasure. The same is true for the next three soulfull tracks 'I'm In Love With Your Lady', 'Whole Lot Of Love' and 'Let's Get It Together'. Real classics with great arrangements.

CD available at vinyl Masterpiece