Search - Richard Niles :: Santa Rita

Smooth jazz and more

idyll | Monarch Beach, CA USA | 10/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Richard Niles' album 'Santa Rita' is a real discovery. An American working in the London studios, Niles' credits are impressive as a composer, producer and arranger. He has written songs for Ray Charles and Tina Turner, worked with jazz great Pat Metheny and arranged for legends like James Brown and Paul McCartney. On 'Santa Rita', his first solo album, Niles displays his authority as a composer while his dreamy guitar glides over lush textures. This is smooth jazz 'kicked up a notch' with sultry and sophisticated arrangements. The tunes are easy on the ears, yet thought provoking. The liner notes are actually informative - so many records today don't have any! And the players are as good as it gets: Hamish Stuart (anybody out there remember that fantastic singer from the Average White Band?) sings How the Mighty Fall (an outstanding song about Muhammad Ali that cuts straight to the heart). Nelson Rangell's flute on Sympathy (another Niles composition) is hauntingly hypnotic. The flawless rhythm section is none other than Danny Gottlieb and Mark Egan, drummer and bassist for the original Pat Metheny Group, and British alto sax whiz Chris Hunter, who made his name with Gil Evans, and who blows the lid off this incredible record! If you want to know what's happening in the new 'cool school' of jazz, check out this album. It's pure class."