It has been rumored that vocalist Tony Adamo is so hip that he won’t even eat a square meal. That reputation is justified in this latest single release which gives a hint of his next full album. The bopping street preacher mixes funk, rap and teaching, both rhymin’ and perfectly timin’ his salute to fellow vocal beatnik Mark Murphy on this toe tapping tribute.
Adamo mixes some synthy jazz loops along with Jean C. Santalis’ guitar and arranging by Berry Schiffman to a set of Michael Franks lyrics with references to Murphy’s songs, life and worldview. Adamo makes phrases like “jumpin’ into the abyss of jazz vocal” sound both visceral and intellectual, as if you’re walking through a door of stringed beads into an old school bohemian café’ wearing a suede leather jacked and wide wale cords. Yet, there’s nothing nostalgic about this vibe, as the eternal soul groove contains modern twists and turns. The linguistic lecture is so soulfully strutting that he makes Gil Scott Heron come across like Donny Osmond. A soul sacrifice!