I'd never heard of David Mann before this CD came here to blog headquarters among a lot of random jazz CDs. Since he shares the name with a standards songwriter, it was difficult to find info on him other than what's at Discogs and in this promo ad:
That's certainly an impressive resume. However, like the cover fashion/hairstyle, this smooth jazz album is definitely of its time and, admittedly, I would have probably loved it if I had heard it during my first official year as an adult ('89-'90: meaning I was married and had a 'real' job with benefits). The playing is first rate and production is flawless throughout. The problem is the lack of interesting material. With a few exceptions, most tunes are built around one short riff - it gets repetitive quickly and can't hold my attention for the length of the tune, even when tunes are in mixed meters (some 5/4 and 7/4 if my ear can still be trusted). It's a nice time capsule, but I don't like it as much as this guy from The Gavin Report:
This compares him to Sanborn when I would have gone with a comparison to Rangell, but close enough. There's also some nice guest work from Chris Botti and Amy K. Porter.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks: The songs that will get ripped to files are Through The Looking Glass and Lunar Love. As mentioned in the above review, the last track, Nuclear Bebop, is a fun, swinging neo-bop tune which is out of place yet makes you wish the whole album had been straight ahead jazz.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
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