AUTUMNAL PRAYER (RICHARD MEETS RAYMOND)

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Autumnal Player (When Richard Meets Raymond)

Delphine Paris / Victor Japan

  1. The Moon Of Abandoned City (2:46)
  2. Love Song Of Ching Yie (3:18)
  3. Memory Of Summer (3:24)
  4. Medley Of Chinese Folk Songs (5:54)
  5. Songs of Riveside (3:00)
  6. The Night Song Of A North Bound Trip (2:40)
  7. The Prayer (2:32)
  8. The Hometown (2:16)
  9. Poem For Early Spring (3:36)
  10. Song Of Cherry Blossom Clam (3:08)
  11. The Flower Heart (3:34)
  12. The Travel (3:50)
  13. Cherry Blossom (3:07)









Review
This was probably the second of some five original albums from the 1985-9 period when Maestro Caravelli was experimenting with a creative reinvention of classics of popular song from the world music charts and from Broadway, Latin catalogues and the Jazz Age.

This album sparkles because Caravelli treated every song with a mood evocative of an uptown restaurant and wine bar where only the most sophisticated socialites mingled... But then again, these are all very melodic rearrangements of pop standards from the 1960s and early 1970s while sounding in vogue with the saxophone led and strong bass sound that characterized the era when Madonna, Whitney Houston, Wham and Starship ruled the airwaves.

So, Caravelli brings huge dollops of lush romance back into the pop sound of the 80s by arranging Moon River with a slower tempo punctuated with a breathtaking harmonica solo that 'walks' the melody through the moonlit promenade instead of singing it straight through like the orchestras of the 1960s did in keeping closely to the original Mancini. Then there is the GREASE-inspired take on Down Town with a distinctive 80s sound, and the blend of Reggae and Pop-rock rhythms on Can't Help Falling in Love. Only You originally by the Platters, is given an unusual flavour of the Big Band era with basslines and percussion from the 80s, while Cuando Calienta... brings you down memory lane with a Waltz like tempo. More slow waltzing follows on Everybody Loves Somebody – that definitive hit from Dean Martin. Finally, Caravelli manages to refresh You are the Sunshine... and Strangers in the Night with smooth saxophone solos throughout each piece while accentuating the beauty of each tune with contemporary basslines.

Overall, this whole album is like vintage 1960s-70s, finely aged wine, uncorked in time for a new audience in the 80s to rediscover.

- ALAN CHONG