Enoch Light's go-to guitarist for nearly all of his studio work, Tony Mottola released several instrumental albums of his own on Light's Command and Project 3 labels, but none better than his 1968 Project 3 release Warm, Wild & Wonderful. Although Mottola did not often write material of his own, the cover song selections here are fantastic and perfectly suited to Mottola's silky smooth jazz playing. The material chosen here ranges from the adult pop of Bacharach and also brilliant covers of label-mates the Free Design (in fact, Free Design leader Chris Dedrick helped arrange several of the songs on this record and background vox are performed by his bandmates). Highlights are the fantastic renditions of the classic Bacharach tunes "This Guy's In Love With You", and the Warwick hit "Do You Know The Way To San Jose". Mottola's carefully and precisely played guitar mimic the song's vocal melodies and Enoch Light adds the perfect soft, orchestral touches to the jazzy guitar playing. But the standout track has to be his take on Dedrick's "Kites Are Fun", a Free Design classic that Mottola turns in to an even blissful and breezier tune than the original. Wondeful stuff.
This rip is from the 1973 Quadraphonic re-release that Project 3 issued in response to the new Quadraphonic phase, that infamously fizzled within a matter of years. This Quad release is also compatible with regular stereo sets, and in comparison to the original stereo mix samples I've heard there isn't a whole lot of difference that I can hear besides maybe an enhancement in clarity. The rip is flat transferred from the '73 release to .mp3 @ 320vbr using EAC's .WAV editor and compressed using dbpoweramp and LAME 3.97. Enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?mg5qclzhd572lhr
-Casey
