While he’s better known for his trumpet work for Roomful of Blues, Al Basile here demonstrates not only his singing chops, but his writing prowess and Catholic faith. Not a bad combo for a single session!
He brings together a swinging band of Duke Robillard/g, Mark Teixeira/dr, Bruce Bears/key, Brad Hallen/b, Doug James/ts and Carl Querfurth/tb that knows how to sound nice and Rat Packy. Basile sounds hep and at ease with the bass and brushes on the vibe-fest “You Know-You Don’t Know” and he can sound clean with just the right dash of rash on the B3 smoker “It Wasn’t That Good.” The horns sound like they were weaned on S tax Records on pieces like “Whole Lot of Good Good Lovin’” and “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Being Right?”. His blue eyed soul is spot on during the Al Greenish “Not Like I Do” and, best of all is his heartfelt reflections on his faith during “Have I Given My Best” and the encouraging “Even Jesus Fell” (just to let you know, He didn’t fall in sin, but when he carried the cross!). Hard not to love this guy-he gets you where you live, or at least ought to!