Michael O'Neill Never Too Late CD

Like most guys who make a great living jamming behind bigger stars, guitarist Michael O'Neill -- whose resume boasts a few years in the '80s with Stevie Wonder and a nearly nonstop two decades with George Benson -- took years to find the time amidst the world tours to compose and produce an entire album's worth of material. It's easy to identify each these influences on a track-by-track basis on Never Too Late. The title track, co-written with Gregg Karukas, finds O'Neill approximating the crisp electric "breezin'" of Benson, darting high-fluttering tones off the main melody as wah-wah click textures call out in the background. Ditto on the mid-tempo retro-soul ballad "Winds of Summer," which opens with a brisk hook that features a higher tone than the verse sections, very much like "Breezin'." Pianist Dave Witham (another vet from the Benson crew) chimes in at one point with a quick but playful solo before O'Neill digs into a deeper tone on a solo that runs like trickling water. O'Neill pays homage to Stevie Wonder, too, opting to play things fairly close to the vest on a thoughtful cover of Stevie Wonder's "Visions," with vocals by Carl Anderson. "I Ain't Lyin'" dips into that Crusaders vibe O'Neill mentions, opening with a dense high-hat percussion swirl by Land Richards and Dio Saucedo's tambourine and easing into a rocking electric guitar melody over the bluesy organ harmony of Chris Ho with plenty of Wayne Henderson-like horn splashes by Walt Fowler. Just as the Crusaders at times crossed from R&B to jazz, O'Neill breaks at one point for heated guitar and piano improvisations. Mid-tempo meditations like "Sidewalk Strut" and the Brazilian-flavored acoustic piece, "Cruisin' on Down" (featuring O'Neill's lively scatting), offer more evidence of the guitarist's ability to both people please and stretch stylistic boundaries ever so slightly. ~ Jonathan Widran

This CD is a culmination of 25 years of experience that Los Angeles based guitarist,Michael O'Neill has lived in the music industry.

Starting in 1979 touring with the Crusaders on their "Street Life" tour to a 2 decades relationship working with guitar great, George Benson in his band (still currently with Benson)O'Neill serves up 12 tunes which cover a wide range of styles that reflect the versatility he has acquired backing up some of the greats in the industry.

Along the way Michael has supported such greats as Stevie Wonder,Rickie Lee Jones,Natalie Cole,Joe Sample,Ronnie Laws,Hubert Laws,Gato Barbieri,Sadao Watanabe,Boney James,Rick Braun,Peter White,Freddie Ravel,Gregg Karukas,Carl Anderson,Sheila E.

,Gerald Albright,Kirk Whalum,Eric Marienthal among others.

Choosing the classic hollow body jazz guitar and the classical spanish guitar as his featured voices, O'Neill offers 10 original compositions,an urban flavored version of the Stevie Wonder song "Visions" featuring Carl Anderson on vocals,Bobby Lyle on keys and Alphonso Johnson on bass,and a solo guitar version of the oft covered Beatles classic "Yesterday" reharmonized to obviously showcase his artistry on the instrument.

This is a tastefully packaged forum to feature O'Neill's considerable voice in the world of guitar.

Includes liner notes by George Benson.

Bobby Lyle (keyboards); Alphonso Johnso, Jimmy Earl (bass); Land Richards, Dave Rennick (drums); Dio Saucedo (percussion).

Engineers include: Mark Creamer, Joe Bellamy, Gregg Karukas.

Personnel: Michael O'Neill (vocals, guitar); Carl Anderson (vocals); Gary Bias (flute, saxophone); Dino Soldo (saxophone); Walt Fowler (horns); David Witham (piano); Thom Hall (Clavinet, keyboards); Christopher Ho (organ); Freddie Ravel (keyboards, synthesizer); Gregg Karukas (keyboards, drums); Bobby Lyle (keyboards); Gerry Brown , Land Richards (drums); Kevin Ricard (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Gregg Karukas.

Recording information: Green Bean Recorders; Nightowl Studios; Peace In The Valley; Sounder Studios.

Arranger: Walt Fowler .

Personnel includes: Michae