[.ca] Mountain Dance

good album:
i got a copy of this album in cassette form back in '86. it was one of the album's that got me oriented to smooth jazz. finally got myself the cd copy a year later. check out the live version of mountain dance on the cd "grp live in sessions".

Southern California dreamin':
This CD(tape at that time) was my first introduction to Grusin, whom I consider a genius at putting thoughts, emotions, and feelings into music. For me this is Balboa Park in San Diego and all the gorgeous sunshine a midwesterner could imagine. The clever syncopation and rhythms of Rag Bag, City Lights, and Friends and Strangers coupled with the hauntingly simple and beautiful Thanksong ( which hinted at themes like On Golden Pond)make this CD a treasure. I have listened to it several hundred times and it NEVER gets stale. The instrumentation and intricacies are never disppointing time after time after time. A former jazz bass player I consider myself somewhat savvy but this CD never fails to amaze me.

Simply put...Good Music!!:
When this album came out back in the early '80's, it was one of the ones that let me know that there were still talented people who actually could play the music that I was listening to. None of that computerized synthetic stuff! This is top-notch jazz at it's best. I can't play a tad of any instrument, but if I could, my writing style, composing style, and playing style would be much like Dave and the guys on this Mountain Dance album. The way Marcus Miller is thumpin' that bass is the exact way I would do it if I could. The way Dave is tickling the ivory is exactly the way I would. This was a dream come true album for me. I highly recommend it!!

Poor Sound Quality:
I am a big fan of Dave Grusin, and I orginally purchased "Mountain Dance" on cassette. When I later purchased this music on CD, I found I really had to crank up the volume to hear it. Maybe some mistakes were made in recording but the sound was quite poor.

Let's dance for joy!!!:
I had a casette version of this mountain dance album (Audio CDs were not in existence at that time) and it got worn out because I used to play it every night!!! Dave Grusin's masterpiece was like a can opener that "devirginized" my mind on jazz. If you're planning or just a beginner in listening to jazz music, I recommend the Dave Grusin's Mountain Dance album.

• Rag Bag
• Friends and Strangers
• City Lights
• Rondo - "If You Hold Out Your Hand"
• Thanksong
• Capitain Caribe
• Either Way
• Mountain Dance