Audiophilepure

What a great ensemble. Chris always has some of the most stellar musicians alive playing with him. Just as Sting brought Chris to mass attention by hiring him as his touring and recording trumpeter, Chris does the same with many young and upcoming players. This is a romantic, tongue-in-cheek song about hooking up over a bottle of wine on a Parisian night. The lyrics “quick before I wake up and don’t know who you are.” as an indicator. Upbeat with a strong vocal performance by John, who cites one of his big influences as Marvin Gaye. Slightly reminiscent of Michael Franks, with way more soul, his voice carries more weight and timbre than Franks. The delivery is perfectly matched by the backing musicians. I could talk about Botti’s trumpet sound and control, but the wonderful thing about Chris is he has no need to take the limelight on these collaborations, and so the balance is spot on. The rhythms are of a boss’s nova groove, and the backing musicians were exceptionally well presented across a broad sound stage with plenty of air in between each person and very focused, so you can close your eyes and see everyone in proper space. Drums slightly back and center, piano off to the right, bass slightly to the left of the drums and a bit forward, guitars on either side. When Botti takes a short solo, you can sense he steps up where John is standing at the mic. Splithoff’s vocals certainly channeled Marvin without being a copy. He has a very pleasing tenor to his voice that is presented creamy smooth by the Carnegies. This song makes you smile, and you can almost see the scene unfolding between the two passing casual lovers. What more can you ask of a speaker to deliver than something that not only lets you hear but also see everything unfolding during the performance?