Customer Reviews

Another Time Another Place

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This was Matt Bianco's first album after splitting from Warner Brothers. Eager to take on the world without the constraints of a marketing department, Mark Fisher and Mark Reilly recorded this in the Fishbowl, Fisher's own studio on the outskirts of London. This record saw a new group of session musicians participating in the production, although Robin Jones was still around to record the beautiful percussive layers that support the songs rhythm stucture. Unfortunately Ronnie Ross had passed away, so the brass section had to be reorganised as well, which is quite clearly audible: the record has a different sound from the first chords of "Our Love".

Fortunately for them they found distributors in Germany, France, Spain, Latin America and Asia, but only JVC-Victor in Japan really made some headway in promoting them to the local audience, and it was no wonder that the album went Gold over there. Songs like "You and I" and the uplifting "Head over Heels" certainly have a place in MB parthenon, but for the first album as independents this effort wasn't good enough to crack the world without a major label in ther backs. Soundwise they vary between their latino - afro/cuban traditional production values and experiment with more contemporary styles, so the whole album is quite variable in its presentation, which makes it still fresh and exciting.

I have owned Another Time, Another Place for years (first released on the JVC Victor Japan label for America). This Matt Bianco title still gets a lot of play in my home and car! Infectious, infectious, and infectious sums it all up...It is mind-blowing how a European-British based band has captured the rich essence and spirit of American/Latin pop and adult contemporary jazz sound for this project!With many of these tracks, one can envision hitting the Miami nightclub circuit for a night of hot dancing or partying it up in the trendy hot spots in L.A.(maybe to move to the grooves or chilling in a club-lounge). There's also a little bit of rap (but nothing outlandish or out of place here). Out of the remnants of the early 80's pop-jazz group Blue Rondo A La Turk, Mark Reilly teamed up with keyboardist and musician Mark Fisher and various other band members years ago to create this awesome ensemble of Latin dance jams richly garnished with soft jazz musings.Nothing here is for show;it's ALL real ! Even the 70's R&B Latin/Funk group War gets paid tribute by having their classic hit The World Is A Ghetto re-made. From the original slow smoldering and melancholy thumping version, it has been transformed into a smooth, upbeat, and very danceable hypnotic number! The slower tracks are not filler tunes but contain wonderful contemporary jazz machinations. This title is highly recommended if new to this group's work. I guarantee you will like their stuff. As of this writing, the group Matt Bianco has reformed into the original lineup of 20 years ago;Mark Reilly, Danny White, and Basia. Mark Fisher and Reilly parted ways amicably a few years back.The current Matt Bianco album Matt's Mood is also their latest title I highly recommend. Another Time, Another Place and Matt's Mood (released first in Europe in 2004, America 2005) are two titles that go perfectly hand in hand to start your collection of MB !!