Moon Voyage Records artists: Chris Daniels, Hazel Miller, Dana Marsh & Friends - What We Did - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, What We Did, from Chris Daniels, Hazel Miller, Dana Marsh & Friends and its shows what musicians will do in the face of adversity to help others. This was a virtual concert for Inner City Health who's mission is to reduce the inequity of health and wellness access and delivery in the underserved populations of Denver. Opening with The Doobie's, Takin' It To The Streets, Freddi Gowdy has the mic, backed by Chris Daniels on vocal and guitar, Victor Wooten on bass, Dana Marsh on B3 and Christian Teele on drums. On Albert King's, Born Under A Bad Sign, Gowdy leads the way with a much more soulful approach with Todd Parker Mohr on guitar, Marsh on keys and Teele on drums. Hazel Miller has the mic on soul drenched, Could You Believe. Played with a lot of gospel influence, I like Miller's delivery and the piano/organ backing. Possibly my favorite track on the release. Very nice. Another nice take is Daniel and Miller's lead on Bob Thiele's What A Wonderful World. A very nicely executed and hearfelt delivery with a solid piano solo by Marsh. With a cool shuffle pace, Gowdy leads the way on down home blues with Mohr on lead guitar, Kenny Passarelli on bass, and Teele on drums. Wrapping the release is original track, Better Days by Daniels who sings lead and plays acoustic guitar, backed by Miller on vocal and Marsh on keys with only minimal percussion and Passarelli on bass. Nice closer for a solid cause.


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Moon Voyage Records artist: Chris Daniels & The Kings featuring Freddi Gowdy - Funky To The Bone - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Funky To The Bone, from Chris Daniels & The Kings featuring Freddi Gowdy and it's a funky R&B jam party! Opening with title track, Funky To The Bone, is a full on horn blow out featuring Jim Waddell on sax and Darryl Abrahamson on trumpet. Colin "Bones" Jones throws down a funky guitar riff and Chris Daniels, Fred Gowdy and Randy Amen lead the party on vocal backed by Hazel Miller, Coco Brown and Carl Carwell. R&B track, Something You Got is nicely blended melody with a bluesy saunter. A cool trumpet solo punching up the soulful vocal lead and crisp guitar riffs makes this a perfect radio track. Don't let Your Mouth Write No Checks takes a street saying and makes it into a funky R&B song. Billy Payne adds some funky keyboard along with that shaft guitar work for another radio bound track. A full boat horn section including Darren Kramer (trombone), Bob Rebholz (tenor), and Carlos Chavez (bari) along with Billy Payne on B3 gives Joy a lively spring. It brings to mind the sound created by Elvin Bishop with Mickey Thomas during his magical years. Very nice! Cool Breeze has a really nice horn intro breaking into a polished "hip-hop" vocal line by Chris Kimmel. Smooth jazz vocals and dynamic horns round out the track. Dance Dance has a cool sound with a little nod to Sly. A bit funkier and TOP style horns and a slick guitar solo give it a definite edge. Very nice! What A Day has a warm club sound with orchestral style horn backing. The lead vocals are solid and the backing vocals are warm and tight. Horn work , especially trumpet work by Abrahamson tops this track. Nobody Knows has a "Santana like" Latin feel with Christian Teele adding super percussion. Exceptional vocal lead and horn backing on this track, paired with Spanish styled electric guitar soloing makes it my favorite track on the release. Excellent! Survivors is a simple ballad with clean, clear piano intro by Payne. A definite radio track with a simple melody and backing horns and a light funky percussion base delivers it. A really sweet sax solo gives this track an extra boot toward the end. Wrapping the release is Birthday Suit a sassy blues track with a walking bass line from Kevin Lege. Payne on keys and the ensemble on horns really gets this track swinging for a tight ending on a very enjoyable release!

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