🎷 AotW: Horizon Mark-Almond - OTHER PEOPLES ROOMS (SP-730)

[Captain Bacardi]

Mark-Almond
OTHER PEOPLES ROOMS
A&M/Horizon SP-730

Released 1978
Peaked at #32 on the Jazz Albums chart (1979)

Format: Vinyl/8-Track/Cassette

Produced by Tommy LiPuma

Songs:

• 1. The City (Jon Mark) - 6:10
  2. Girl On Table 4 (Jon Mark) - 5:02
  3. You Look Just Like A Girl Again (Danny O'Keefe) - 5:00
  4. Other Peoples Rooms (Jon Mark) - 3:52
  5. Lonely People (Jon Mark) - 2:32
  6. Just A Friend (Jon Mark) - 4:12
  7. Then I Have You (Jon Mark) - 5:46
  8. Vivaldi's Song (Michael Franks) - 5:33
  
  Orchestral Arrangements composed and conducted by Claus Ogerman

Musicians:
Jon Mark - Vocals, Classical Guitar, 12-String Guitar
Johnny Almond - Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Flutes
John Tropea - Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar
Leon Pendarvis - Fender Rhodes, Concert Piano
Will Lee - Bass Guitar
Steve Gadd - Drums
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
Larry Williams - Synthesizer
Jerry Hey - Flugelhorn

Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York
Recorded by Hank Cicalo and Al Schmitt
Mixed at Capitol Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Mixed by Al Schmitt
Mastered at The Mastering Lab by Mike Reese

Art Concept and Design by Jon Mark, Chuck Beeson and Jeff Ayeroff
Photography by Mark Hanauer
Project Coordinators: Jordan Harris and Eileen Basich



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

I used to be a big fan of this and loved the original compositions and the two remakes...

The arrangements are fairly top-notch and "Then I Have You" is a neat one to know the words to and sing along with...

A variety of tempos, though "Lonely People" is about as fast as the mostly-ballads in this set really gets...

And recorded in New York with The City's Best Musicians...!



Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

The best way to describe this album is a harder-edged, bluesy Michael Franks with the band Stuff behind him. Very tasty songwriting with a laid-back soulful band, and a breathy vocal from Jon Mark. Johnny Almond provides some nice sax and flute work thoughout the album. There are times where Mark sounds a little like Leonard Cohen as well. They even cover Franks' "Vivaldi's Song", which sounds like a perfect vehicle for Herb Alpert. Jerry Hey even provides an Alpert-esque flugel solo on the song. This is a pretty nice album. 3 & 1/2 stars.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Neat album...! The ballads have an easy going, easy listening quality (& the fast ones--or fast ONE!--is disco-charged!) & a great stable of back-up musicians...!

Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This is a nice little album. This also marked the Tommy Li Puma era of the Horizon series, which unfortunately didn't last too long.

As for this album I always thought of this as a harder edged Michael Franks sound. They even cover a Franks' tune on "Vivaldi's Song", which I thought would've made a good vehicle for Herb Alpert to play on. This LP is worth looking for.