The Marc VW Allstars - Raise the Marc (2017)

Koz..percussionist-producer Escovedo, Obiedo, pianist Peter Horvath and bassist Raymond McKinley immediately cooked up MarcandDave, a greasy East Bay number in honor of the grooving duo who survived that freak accident with Amtrak. It s got a little bit of a Tower feel, says Escovedo, who produced the concert and this VW All-Stars record to aid his badly injured friend, with whom he s played for 30 years. ...In addition to a new bossa nova version of Heaven, a tune he wrote for a Sheila E. record featuring van Wageningen, Escovedo composed this record s closer, the gospel-like ballad Wherever You Go I ll Go. It speaks about God and the struggles we have at times, says Escovedo, who included a track on the album that features van Wageningen (Oakland in Da House, from an earlier live Sheila E. recording). The bassist, he reports, is in good spirits and itching to play again. He s starting to sit down and hold his bass a little bit. He s inching his way back to health. --Jesse Hamlin, San Francisco Chronicle