Customer Reviews

When I'm With You

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There comes a time with certain artists when they've become so good, so reliably in-the-pocket, yet always fresh and innovative, that you feel totally comfortable trusting anything new that comes from them. Such is the case with guitarist Chuck Loeb. I picked up the new project from the NY based virtuoso expecting it to be outstanding, and it most certainly is, even surpassing my expectations with the variety of material on the disc, but all of it perfectly suited to Smooth Jazz listening. WHEN I'M WITH YOU finds Mr. Loeb and his guitar playing in top form, from the Smooth Jazz radio hit "Tropical" to a fresh new "chilled-out" interpretation of "The Girl from Ipanema," to a beautiful, winsome vocal from his wife, Carmen Cuesta on the title track.  There's just no doubt about his talent when you listen to the music on WHEN I'M WITH YOU, and it's so appealing, so Smooth Jazz perfect, if you will, that there shouldn't be any question in your mind about whether you want to add this to your library. There's nothing on this CD that would turn you away, or spoil the mood, or not be pleasing to your ear, from the ballads to the bluesy, the sweet to the funky. The harmony in it all is the outstanding material, arranging, and playing. Smooth Jazz just doesn't get any better than this. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! ~Scott O'Brien

I think Sandy Shore must've been stoned when he wrote his review. Don't get me wrong, there are some good tracks on this CD. But, sadly it is one of those albums where you are reaching for the remote control and in a hurry too. This album vears more towards a straight jazz sound which will dissapoint his smooth jazz fans. Some cuts feature organ and sounds awful!

"Tropical" will please smooth jazz lovers. The cover of "Girl from Ipanema" is quite nice. Carmen Cuesta sounds very nice on "When i'm with you" and "Spanish Nights" has a nice soft latino feel to it.The mastering is a big dissapointment too. My CD has 16 tracks when there should only be 11. These aren't bonus tracks at all, just recording errors of blank gaps of silence around 9 seconds long. Very poor indeed. I own every Chuck Loeb CD and am a big fan, but something's urging me to sell this whilst the CD is still new for the highest possible return. Chuck, please do what you do best, and stick to cool smooth jazz sounds. Fans do not want a mixture of organ drenched smulch blended with smooth jazz tracks. It doesn't work for me.

Don't listen to what "latinosoulboy" said in his review. The music is not at all like that. Also he made a very poor choice in blackening the review of the guy above. Not very nice. The organ was a great choice in the CD. Also, usually if the artist wants to have a bonus track connected to the last track of the disc, you will have to wait for the song to end & then wait the silence out to get to the hidden bonus track. Here however, Chuck makes the silence parts tracks so you can get right to the unmarked bonus track. Good job Chuck! musicians: Chuck~guitars & keys; Dave Darlington~programming; the band: Mike Ricchiuti~piano & keys; Carl Carter~bass; Josh Dion~drums & percussion with other musicians: Ralph MacDonald, Dave Charles & Brian Dunne~percussion; Brian Dunne~drums; Dave Finck & Will Lee~bass; Carmen Cuesta (Loeb)~featured vocalist (check out her CD Peace of Mind); Jeff Kashiwa~sax; horn section: Barry Danielian, Dave Mann & Mike Davis; bonus track contains just the band (Mike Ricchiuti is on Rhodes). Enjoy this CD!

Chuck Loeb is in a state that we might call outburst creatve mood. And so he decided to make an album that worked out as a heartfelt tribute to the jazz itself.

The result couldnot be more fortunate. Go for this well celebrated album that must be included in the reduced list of the ten best recordings of the year in this genre.

Although Chuck Loeb's name may not be as well recognized as other guitarists, he should be. After seeing him last year at Camden, NJ's Wiggins PArk I was convinced that this is a guitarist worth listening to...this album (er CD) echoes those sentiments...check out "Girl From Ipanema." This is an inventive play on a classic. If you haven't heard him yet this is a definite buy.

I am a big fan of Chuck Loeb and own every one of his albums. Although this may not be Chuck's best, it is still very nice and relaxing which is why we love Chuck in the first place. This album has a nice mix of smooth and traditional jazz and Carmen's voice on "When I'm With You" is as sweet as ever. I agree with the reviewer named "Latinosoulboy" that this one was a bit of a disappointment compared to some of his previous albums, but by the second listen I found I liked the album much better. I returned my first cd thinking it was defective since there were supposed to be 11 tracks when in fact there were 16. Tracks 12-15 are blank with several annoying seconds of silence between them and then there is track 16, which is very good. But to my surprise when my replacement cd arrived I discovered it was exactly the same as the first one and this is the way the cd was mastered. All in all the tracks that actually do have music on them are very enjoyable. Hopefully by now they have rectified this problem and released new cds.

Nice album to listen to. Probably one of the best smooth jazz cds on the market. And I thought I was listening to a Bob James music.