the Heart Approaches What It Yearns

A while back I got a gift from a reader who checked my wish list, sending me a CD and only asked that I give an honest review of it. He’s a sweetie and kinda stuck in a bad situation. I hadn’t had time until now to sit down and write the damn thing, so with apologies for another obligation that zoomed by, here we go:

Put on a slinky cocktail dress, mix up a pitcher of martinis and prepared to let Tonic hep ya to some jive: this CD is as smooth as baby’s feet and you better be ready to swing. Tonic is a vocal quartet – imagine Manhattan Transfer if they were packing heat – and the melody rules the show. Rigorous attention to detail and perfection in rhythm and harmony both make this a great cocktail party tape. I wouldn’t know – but I love playing it good & loud while picking up the clutter after a busy weekend with the boys. My favorites: “Sammy Slick”, the story of a hard-drinkin’ private eye on the trail of a femme fatale; “Lemon Twist” for a bit of vitamin C; and “Hepster’s Jive”, with a nod of the fedora to Cab Calloway. These all are originals, but they have that authentic flavor of a corrupt Prohibition Era Chicago – sweet horns, tasty arrangements, and sax solos that are so decadent that they make you want to be the kind of woman your mom warned your brother about. I defy you to not get up and dance a lindy hop to the infectious “Second Date Stomp”. The Yearning Heart says, check it out.

And private to PM; thanks again.