Here is the anti-Buble. Giacomo Gates is no slick and polished pretty boy; he’s been a bar bouncer and has run a bulldozer for a living. That alone should qualifier as a guy with a story to tell. Here, he teams with some kindred spirits in Grant Stewart/sax, , Tony Di Martino/p, Tony Lombardozzi/g, Ed Howard/b and Willard Dyson/dr through a series of musical stories that mix melody with moxie. Stewart’s tenor and Lombardozzi’s guitar serve as a perfect frame on the suave “If I Were You, Baby, I’d Love Me” while he goes melancholy with DiMartino on “Almost Blue.” The team shuffles off to Buffalo on the poetic “Who Threw The Glue” whle delivers soul that is as real as corduroys on “Hazel’s Hips.” Speaking of hip, the closing “Well You Needn’t/It’s Over Now” feels like an old leather jacket, warm and comfy with an attitude. Gotta love this guy!
Savant Records