It would be selling short the creative genius
of both Adams and Wirrick to suggest that Cool To The Touch is only about
horns as there are some other great performances including Nick Milo’s magic
keys on “One Night In Rio,” and Johnny Sandoval’s hand played percussion is
outstanding while providing a Latin backbeat. Sandoval resurfaces on a number
of other tracks including the nostalgic sounding “Life In The Key Of Blue”,
but his best performance may be the Latin flavored “Bongo Baby”.
Leland Sklar's bass builds a strong foundation for the other musicians.
Legendary drummer Vinnie Colaiuta who is featured on the March edition of Modern Drummer is the keeper of the beats for “Felix The Cat”, the title track “Cool To The Touch”, Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” and “It’s Only Love, Love”. Clarita who Adams refers to as “a dear old friend” has toured and recorded with artists such as, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Lee Ritenour, Joni Mitchell, Faith Hill and Gino Vanelli.
Bass guitarist Leland Sklar, Paul Jackson Jr. (guitar), Carmen Grillo (guitar), Brian Allen (bass), Evan Stone (drums), Joey Navarro (keys) and James Wirrick (guitar, keys and harmonica), turn in other strong performances on Cool To The Touch.
The forward thinking Adams took time during our conversation to explain why he opted for a nostalgic black and white cover for Cool To The Touch. “We made a jacket for the CD that looked like an old Blue Note record. It is so minimalist and I think in that day it might have been the hip thing to do,” he says. Reflecting further he adds, “There is nothing classier than a black suit or a little black dress that Audrey Hepburn might have worn. It’s classic and that is what we were going for.”
“We didn’t really want to use the word smooth so we opted for the words ‘cool to the touch’ and (thought) we would branch out from the box a little bit more. Sometimes a title can really pigeonhole you,” he says.
The reinventing of Greg Adams’ music continues with retro sounding titles such as “It’s Only Love, Love”, “Life In The Key Of Blue”, “Hi-Fi” and “Bongo Baby” set to modern arrangements.
The Sting tune “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” is the only song on Cool To The Touch that was not either written or co-written by Adams. “First of all I am a big fan of Sting and whenever I heard that song on the radio I would always perk up my ears. Doing covers of songs is something that I began ten years ago with Sade’s “Smooth Operator”. To cover “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” differently was so difficult that we pretty well mirrored the (original) arrangement. We did the voice with the trumpet and it was a bit of a stretch but I think it works. It goes over great live,” he says.
The album draws to a close with the dreamy “When The Party’s Over” as Adams’s trumpet laments having to say goodbye. There are many great tunes on this CD but this Adams and Milo arrangement is the prettiest.
While Greg Adams’ Cool To The Touch may feature a cast of legendary artists, we should not forget that he is a legend in his own right. His prolific charts fuelled Tower of Power to fourteen albums. His recording and performance career has heard him share the stage and studio with a diverse plethora of artists including, Linda Ronstadt, Luther Vandross, Lyle Lovett, Eurythmics, Aaron Neville, Carlos Santana, Josh Groban, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, Quincy Jones, Elton John, Rod Stewart and Wilson Pickett.
While the song may be named, “Felix The Cat” it is Greg Adams who is one cool cat!
By Joe Montague
January 2007
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