The Dells : Sing Dionne Warwicke’s Greatest Hits (Cadet / Dusty Groove)

Chess Records takes on the music of Burt Bacharach, with amazing results – thanks to the deep soul vocals from the Dells and impeccable production from the legendary Charles Stepney! The album’s a tremendous meeting of minds, as The Dells really transform Bacharach’s brilliant compositions – giving them depth and feeling in ways that are quite different from any other renditions of the songs. The Arrangements by Stepney are incredible too – on a par with his work for Minnie Riperton, Rotary Connection and Ramsey Lewis – as majestic as Burt might have wanted, but with a very different approach, and a slight undercurrent of funk. Instrumentation is by Stepney, Phil Upchurch and members of The Pharoahs, plus a full string section as well. Another baroque-soul classic from the glory days of the Chicago soul scene.

~ par xanakse le mars 3, 2008.