Having signed a presumably lucrative deal with MCA,
Deodato took with him the jazz- Latin-funk-with-a-taste-of-the-classics formula that he perfected with CTI. But there was a sonic price to pay, for MCA's flat, lackluster sound takes a lot of the sheen and color away from
Deodato's arrangements and the sound of his electric piano. As a result, this record sounds like a washed-out, black-and-white facsimile of a
Deodato CTI record, with one classical adaptation (
Schubert's "Ave Maria"), a fairly good reworking of
Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade," and three
Deodato originals, of which only "Whirlwinds" has a headful of steam. The large orchestra and band are populated by the usual mid-'70s assortment of New York sessionmen and women, along with the ubiquitous
John Tropea, but there are few solos worth mentioning outside of
Deodato's own funky Rhodes displays. ~ Richard S. Ginell