Deodato - Artistry (1974) [Vinyl]

MCA's austere LP jacket tells us nothing about the personnel or any other details about this concert other than that it was recorded live at the Mississippi River Festival (at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville near St. Louis). We should know more, for this live album has a good deal more energy and life -- and Deodato's arrangements for full orchestra have more thought and feeling, and amazingly, are recorded better -- than anything on his immediately surrounding albums. Best of all is a winning arrangement of the "St. Louis Blues," a performance probably enhanced by the locale, and "Super Strut" is given a majestically funky live treatment. One can surmise that the guitarist is John Tropea, and both he and Deodato sound more alert and involved here than in their other MCA albums together. Undoubtedly this is the pick of the meager Deodato MCA litter.