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From the Vault...
07/21/2013
#1369 |
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info
The John Tesh Project
"Sax On The Beach"
© GTS Records
Year of Release: 1995
Rating:
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track listing
This Is It
I Keep Forgettin'
(Every Time
You're Near)
In Your Eyes
The Way It Is
Shower The People
September
Synchronicity II
I'll Be Over You
Biggest Part Of Me
Message In A Bottle
Piano In The Dark
Can You Feel
The Love Tonight
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The John Tesh Project related sites:
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The John Tesh Project
"Sax On The Beach"
The best thing about going to used CD stores, is seeing artists you'd been curious about, and pay a lesser price than you would for a brand new CD.
(This is the case for older CDs you find.) At one particular store, CD Trader, located at the time up Northern Illinois, towards Schamburg, I saw a
few Josh Tesh CDs for $5 each. I had heard Tesh's piano albums were similar (or close) to those by Rick Wakeman. Tesh marks his debut here on
WSVNRadio, with his 1995 release, Sax On The Beach. This album has sax and piano driven tunes, as well as your standard Smooth Jazz styled songs.
All the songs are remakes, and has the Smooth Jazz sound.
The album's opener is the Kenny Loggins/Michael McDonald hit, "This Is It." A very impressive approach towards the Smooth Jazz concept.
Michael McDonald's solo hit, "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" is next, as I am more familiar with the title of this song as
"I Keep Forgettin' (I'm Not In Love Anymore)". Another impressive Smooth Jazz'er.
Both "In Your Eyes" (Peter Gabriel) and "The Way It Is" (Bruce Hornsby) are good numbers here, and James Taylor's (not so popular hit
by him) "Shower The People." All well-crafted done. "September" (Earth, Wind & Fire), and "Synchronicity II" (The Police) are
also excellent, where The Police song has a more Rock sound to that of the original, than that of Smooth Jazz. "I'll Be Over You"
is one of those songs I really don't remember; it was originally recorded by the band Toto. The Smooth Jazz sounds keep shining on Biggest Part Of
Me" (Ambrosia). The Police's "Message In A Bottle" is more Rock, just as the other Police remake, "Synchronicity II." It even sounds
a bit different than the original, maybe it's a bit more Jazz'd than that of Smooth Jazz.
"Piano In The Dark" was originally co-written and sung by Brenda Russell. It was also titled as "Cry Just A Little." This song is
another great Smooth Jazz flavored track, with both piano and sax. Elton John's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (from The Lion King) ends
the album on a great note; beautifully done.
Sax On The Beach is an excellent release. It's one of those albums you can easily play in the background while you work, and of course, it is
a good mood setter. A note to add: The John Tesh Project (on this release) included many popular jazz artists helping out on various tracks: Gerald
Albright, Boney James, Eric Marienthal (all of whom have achieved #1 status on the Billboard Jazz charts), Michael Paulo, and Marc Russo. The John Tesh
Project members on this release were John Tesh (synthesizer), Tim Heinz (keyboards and accordion), Brian Kilgore (percussion), Michael Landau (guitar),
Tim Landers (bass), George Perilli (drums). There will be more John Tesh albums to review, and quite frankly, I wouldn't mind getting more of his work,
after reading his list of over 30 albums in 20 years, consisting of various musical styles (see next paragraph).
John Tesh originally started his career on television, being well-known as co-host to Entertainment Tonight, from 1986-1996, along with
Mary Hart. His musical career began in 1987, where he asked his good friend Yanni to join his band as a keyboardist. Despite his work with
Entertainment Tonight, Tesh went on tour with Yanni, playing 12 shows. Yanni would help Tesh with his first recording contract with Private Music.
Since 1987, Tesh has released more than 30 albums, including genres such as Smooth Jazz, Classical, Gospel, Christian, and Christmas albums. His most
recent albums of Big Band were released in 2011 and 2012: Big Band Christmas (2011), and Big Band (2012).
Tesh is currently hosting a nationally-syndicated radio show, called The John Tesh Radio Show based in Los Angeles, California. The show
features Adult Contemporary, Classic Hits, and Soft Rock formats. Also included are his factoids and other useful information for his listeners, based
on topics such as health and well-being. These factoids are known as his "Intelligence For You Life," and is played on radio stations across the U.S.
and Canada. These are also known as small infomericals for talk radio stations. These factoids are seen on his website,
http://www.tesh.com. His audience has reached an estimated 14.5 million across the U.S., Canada,
and the UK.
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Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
GTS Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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