LP
£11.99 GBP £14.99

Handy continues with the formula for success that had make his previous album, Hard Work, an R&B club hit. Some new session musicians are added. Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, James Jamerson, James Gadson, Sonny Burke, Paulinho da Costa, indicate the direction of the music. On Carnival, Handy manages even better to mix the Jazz, Latin, and R&B ingredients.

The general mood throughout is one of serenity, nostalgia and unhurried mastery. Watch Your Money Go clearly imitates the successful recipe of the song Hard Work, a fast shuffled Jazz beat danced to in half speed. As always, Handy builds his solo carefully, then has Mike Hoffmann improvise on his half-acoustic guitar until he jumps back in to finish his solo with a well-paced climax. Alvina is another winner. Based on a slow arpeggio from the bass that shifts its harmonies slightly, there's more of that elegant sax playing and an acoustic piano solo by Sonny Burke. Or there's the bluesy Love's Rejoycing, featuring a melancholy melody with an oriental touch.

The beat grooves but stays light and airy as on all the tracks. The two times when Handy sings, he only proves that his singing is not his forte, but even on those tracks, Handy blows his horn and proves what a gifted Jazz musician he is. I can't help noticing how difficult it was back in the mid-seventies for Jazz musicians to record an album that was satisfying both on the artistic and the business levels. On Carnival, John Handy manages to do the splits.

Tracklisting

  • Carnival
  • Alvina
  • Watch Your Money Go
  • I Will Leave You
  • Love's Rejoycing
  • Make Her Mine
  • All The Things You Are
  • Christina's Little Song
Citizen Of Glass
£24.99 GBP
No Singles
£17.99 GBP
Nirvana
£25.99 GBP
Come Away With ESG
£19.99 GBP
The Remote Part
£22.99 GBP
Chutes Too Narrow
£19.99 GBP
Thirteen
£18.99 GBP
Blue Banisters
£34.99 GBP
Wild Mood Swings
£28.99 GBP
Harry Pussy
£15.99 GBP
Charmed Life
£19.99 GBP
Liquid Skin
£21.99 GBP
The Age Of Quarrel
£28.99 GBP
Brain Telephone
£22.99 GBP
IV (White Vinyl)
£21.99 GBP
Fire From Heaven
£19.99 GBP
Left Hand
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Candle Power
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Galaxilympics
£14.99 GBP £21.99
3
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Someone To Watch Over Me
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Yellow House
£21.99 GBP
Favourite People
£19.99 GBP
Bad Advice Good People
£14.99 GBP £21.99
The Dragon Flies Away
£14.99 GBP £21.99
We (Picture Disc)
£19.99 GBP
Choose Life
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Gulp!
£19.99 GBP
Angel
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Private Sector
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Drecksound
£14.99 GBP £21.99
(Self-Titled)
£14.99 GBP
Is It?
£14.99 GBP £22.99
Death of a Cheerleader
£14.99 GBP £22.99