Search - Al Basile :: Down On Providence Plantation

"Down on Providence Plantation" turns the table on previous Robillard releases by featuring Basile as singer, writer, and arranger, with Robillard and his band backing him up. Robillard also produced, displaying unique approaches to a broad range of stylistic influences, including blues, R+B, soul, gospel, and funk; his guitar playing, extending into styles he doesn't usually feature on his own discs, remains completely masterful. The real focus on this disc, though, is the songwriting and singing. The songs sound like classics, worthy of comparison to the work of any other writer. The influences of this century's great songwriters (from Broadway's Rodgers, Arlen, and Gershwin to 50's and 60's genre greats such as Percy Mayfield, Doc Pomus, and Dan Penn) show throughout in the care for lyrics and the solid grooves, and Basile's singing, at turns intimate or impassioned, owes its greatest debt to 60's masters like Sam Cooke and Solomon Burke. Though he doesn't tour, he performs on this disc like he never left the road.