Angela Bofill Angel Of The Night CD

Angela Bofill proved herself extremely adroit at doing Latin, jazz, and R&B with equal finesse on her debut, Angie. Angel of the Night is the highly anticipated sophomore set originally released on GRP when it was distributed on Arista. With such a comfortable style well suited to Bofill's voice, this doesn't veer that far away from the work on the first album. The first track, the immediately classic "I Try," is beautifully sung, dramatic, and offers no false moments. The title track is just as effective in a gentle and lilting way. Angel of the Night's producers David Grusin and Larry Rosen, who also worked on Jon Lucien's 1973-1975 albums, cover some ambitious territory with a rich-voiced, quirky singer here as well. The epic "The Voyage" has the producers' sense of drama, a perfect match for Bofill's deliberate delivery, which is oddly though sweetly reminiscent of Lucien. "What I Wouldn't Do (For the Love of You)" and "The Feelin's Love" bring her to a more customary, sleek R&B material with her trademark vocals making them even better. The only thing that qualifies as a miss is a disco-style take on Thom Bell and Linda Creed's "People Make the World Go 'Round." It's not that bad, though. Angel of the Night is one of Bofill's finest and most charming albums. Any fan of sophisticated late-'70s R&B/Latin jazz need to have this in their collection. ~ Jason Elias

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

1979 Produced By Dave Grusin

Recorded at A&R, Electric Lady, CBS 30th Street Studios, New York, New York. Originally released on Arista/GRP (5501). Includes liner notes by David Nathan.

Personnel: Angela Bofill (vocals, piano); Eric Gale (electric guitar); Barry Finclair, Herbert Sorkin, Harry Glickman, Lamar Alsop, Jonathan Abramowitz, Louis Gabowitz, Charles McCracken, Emanuel Vardi (strings); Eddie Daniels (tenor saxophone); Marvin Morgenstern, David Tofani, Joseph Rabushka, Harold Vick, John Pintavalle, Richard Sortomme, Virgil Jones, Max Ellen (horns); Dave Grusin (piano, electric piano, mini-Moog synthesizer, Oberheim synthesizer); Ray Chew (electric piano); Francisco Centeno (electric bass); Paul Kimbarow, Buddy Williams (drums); Carol Steele (congas, shekere, percussion); Sammy Figueroa (congas, percussion); Larry Rosen (wood block); Ralph MacDonald (percussion); Ed Walsh (programming); Connie Harvey, Ednah Holt, Gwen Guthrie, Patti Austin, Vivian Cherry (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Dave Grusin; Larry Rosen.

Liner Note Authors: David Nathan; Pete Hamill.

Recording information: A&R Studios, New York, NY.

Photographer: John Ford .

Arrangers: Dave Grusin; Ray Chew.

Personnel includes: Angela Bofill (vocals, piano); Dave Grusin (arranger, conductor, piano, electric piano, Mini-Moog synthesizer); Ray Chew (arranger, piano, electric piano); Eric Gale (electric guitar); Jonathan Abramowitz, LaMar Alsop, Harry Glickman, Charles McCracken, Louis Gabowitz (strings); Eddie Daniels (tenor saxophone); Howard Johnson, Marvin Morgenstern, Virgil Jones, Lewis Soloff, Max Ellen, Harold Vick (horns); "Tinker" Barfield, Francisco Centeno (electric bass); Buddy Williams, Paul Kimbarow (drums); Carol Steele (congas, shekere, percussion); Sammy Figueroa (congas, percussion); Larry Rosen (woodblocks); Ralph MacDonald (percussion); Ed Walsh (programming); Ednah Holt, "Danny" John Madden, Patti Austin, Gwen Guthrie (background vocals).

Reissue producer: Rob Santos.