(back to music) MARY MAC River Songs - Vivid Sound
The words smoky, sultry and sensual smooth Jazz could have been invented to describe this wonderful collection from Mary Mac. Having just returned from another trip to the Big Apple there is not a track on here that would not be fit for the play list of CD101.9 my favourite station when in that city. This album actually comes from 1997 but should be traceable using the recognisable sites. Mary is backed up with some real quality players including Max Middleton (piano), Iain Bairnson (guitar), Richard Bailey (drums) and bassist Kuma Harada who also handled all the production and arranging duties. All the writing though belongs to Mary and this is of a high standard indeed. The Title track opens this package up and it is like your birthday has come early. The first fifty seconds instrumentation is vaguely reminiscent of Windmills of Your Mind before Mary lays just a fabulous mellow sound on your ears as she yearns for home through the motion of a river. 'Heart And Soul' show cases the available range in Mary's vocals with a most of the song actually sung in a fairly high register that never grates in the slightest. 'Do You Know Where The Love Goes' would not sound out of place on any Crusaders album. 'Do You Remember?' reminisces about childhood days gloriously spent and has a real summer sunshine feel to it. 'This Thing Called Love' looks at the breaking apart of a relationship set upon a rather jaunty Latin beat. 'We All Hold The Key' and 'Fly Into The Night' make you want to dance sexily with your, or someone else's partner, and brings the album nicely romantically to a close. This is very classy stuff from a classy singer. Article by Graeme Scott