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CD by Highly Regarded Singer/Songwriter
Known for Distinctive Falsetto is U.S. Release of Recording
Issued in U.K.
Singer/songwriter David Lasley's Expectations of Love is set
for release in the United States on December 1, 2001, featuring
Lasley's recordings of 13 pop, R&B and smooth jazz songs written
by such artists as Philip Bailey, Josh Kadison, Michael Kamen,
Robin Lerner and Lasley himself. Expectations of Love, on the
Thursday Market Music label, was originally issued last year
in the United Kingdom by Expansion Records, the highly regarded
soul/smooth jazz label. The U.S. release contains the
same tracks as the U.K. release along with an expanded CD booklet
incorporating additional photos and comments by Lasley.
Musicians on Expectations of Love include David Benoit, Bobby
Watson, Marty Walsh and others. Arnold McCuller, Phil
Ballou and Myrna Smith are among the album's background vocalists.
The Expansion release of Expectations of Love received substantial
air play in Great Britain, and the title track was #10 on the
prestigious JAZZ FM "Top 50 Tracks of 2000." New York's
Next Magazine praised the CD by saying, "On Expectations of
Love, his first album of new material in ten years, Lasley hasn't
lost his knack for writing and performing timeless and soulful
R&B ballads and pop tunes."
Lasley, whose rich, versatile voice spans four octaves, is best-known
for his distinctive falsetto. (Esquire included him with
Philip Bailey, Barry Gibb and Smokey Robinson as "1985's Top
Falsettos.") His talent as a solo performer matches his
stature as a songwriter, vocal arranger and background vocalist.
He has written hundreds of songs that have been recorded by
such artists as Anita Baker ("You Bring Me Joy"), Maxine Nightingale
("Lead Me On"), Patti LaBelle ("Come What May," "I Don't Go
Shopping"), Aretha Franklin ("There's a Star for Everyone"),
Boz Scaggs ("Jojo") and Crystal Gayle ("The Blue Side"), to
name just a few. Lasley has also achieved great success
as a background vocalist and has just completed a five-month
stint on James Taylor's popular "Pull Over" tour. He's
toured and recorded as a background vocalist with Taylor since
1977 and has worked with countless other artists, among them
Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Buffett,
Ringo Starr, Cher and Chaka Khan.
Lasley's most recent release was Back to Blue-Eyed Soul (2000),
a retrospective of his career, described by Billboard as "one
of the more refreshing collections you're likely to hear."
In Playboy, writer Dave Marsh said, "The great falsetto singer
David Lasley put this together by rummaging through his 35-year
career. Call it the best Smokey Robinson CD of the 21st
century." His other solo albums are Demos (1981), Missin'
Twenty Grand (1982), Raindance (1984, produced by Don Was) and
Soldiers on the Moon (1990).
Rolling Stone called Missin' Twenty Grand "genuinely beautiful
white soul," and the New York Times commented, "The way his
tunes blend the style of Motown with more sophisticated Broadway
and Hollywood influences recalls the pop style of Laura Nyro's
classic late-60's albums." Critic Mikal Gilmore called
Raindance "off-beat, exquisitely beautiful, politically and
emotionally savvy art-soul from perhaps the finest pop-R&B songwriter
(if not the most affecting high-range vocalist) in America today."
Lasley's early solo work has seen increased popularity in the
last few years with the reissues of Missin' Twenty Grand, Soldiers
on the Moon, Demos and two albums with his 1970s group Rosie.
Expectations of Love includes the smooth jazz-tracks "What's
It Gonna Take" (by Lasley, Robin Lerner and Marsha Malamet),
"Meant for You" (by Lasley and Roxanne Seeman), "Expectations
of Love" (by Seeman, Philip Bailey, Jeff Sigman and Steve Robbins),
and "Good Magic" (by Lasley and Josh Kadison). R&B-style songs
are "Revelations" (by Seeman and Jay Oliver), "Love's Forever"
(by Lasley and James P. Dunne), "Will to Survive" (by Seeman,
Oliver and Jean-Paul Dreau), and "Dancin' On The Smooth Edge"
(by Lasley and Robbie Long; this song was the "B" side of Whitney
Houston's "Exhale"). Pop-flavored songs are "Joey (I Believe
in Our Love)" (by Lasley and Kathy Wakefield), "Night of Our
Lives" (by Seeman, Oliver and Dominic Messinger), "Change All
of That" (by Lasley, Lerner and Malamet), "When Will I Know
Love" (by Lasley and Michael Kamen), and "The Right Way" (by
Lasley, Oliver and Michael Prozzo).
Expectations of Love is available from Lasley's web site (www.DavidLasley.com),
in selected stores, or by mail order at P.O. Box 46667, Los
Angeles, CA 90046.
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