The Hollywood Allstars- Field Of Grace
Doing the job I do, I get exposed to such great music of all genres and types. Once again I am blessed to be sent another great EP from another great band that has come my way. The Hollywood Allstars is a huge band with a huge sound.
The band also features vocalist Tommy Bowes, who for seven years sang with the incredible Tower of Power.
The Uptown Horns played with The Rolling Stones on the Steel Wheels Tour. Keith Richards personally praised them as being the “only horn section up for the job,” before they went on to work with Joe Cocker, the J. Geils Band, and providing the horns on James Brown’s Grammy Award Winning Single, “Living in America.”
Scott Spray (Bass), Grammy recording bassist from the Johnny and Edgar Winter Groups, has recorded on over 800 albums.
Lee Finkelstein plays drums on the EP and he is best known as one of the original members of The Blues Brothers Band
Andy Abel (Guitar) has played with Blood Sweat & Tears and The Talking Heads.
Eddie Torres (Percussionist), is best known for “Turn the Beat Around” with singer Vicki Sue Robinson.
So as you can see, Steve Gaspár has really put together a band of musicians with impressive CVs for each member to make up The Hollywood Allstars, and trust me their sound is as big as their lineup.
The band has just released an EP called Field of Grace, a 6-track EP filled with great music, a huge sound, and great production from start to finish
What I like about this band and also this EP is the huge sound they have, and the different instruments they have from guitar, keyboards, and even sax or trumpets, They are definitely not your usual 4-5 band lineup up and this is immediately heard in track one. The title track of the EP, Field of Grace is a well-written great song with powerful lyrics of love and love lost and thinking back of whatever happened to the Field of Grace the two lovers once had. The huge sound is accompanied by strong vocals and I think to myself, wow, if this is just track 1 and I am already captivated and in for the ride, I wonder if the rest of the EP is like this.
Track 2, namely called Trust Me, is an equally great track but hang on, what is this, A female vocalist takes over the vocals, sung by talented musician Chevy Chevis, I guess you can do that when you have such great musicians to choose from at your fingertips, and wow what a great job she has also done on the track, her vocals are just as strong as the previous track.
The big sound is still evident and I find myself captivated by this great band and wondering to myself what they must sound like live. Here in South Africa they have a thing called Barnyard theatre shows and I can picture this band doing well on a stage like that, not because of the songs they are singing, but instead for the talent and production they give off with each song. At a Barnyard show, the musicians really have to know their stuff because they play shows day in and day out and this is the kind of feeling I get when I listen to The Hollywood Allstars. They would do well also on a stage in Las Vegas and could easily play to a sold-out show.
Track 3, namely Living in America is somewhat a little different upon first listen compared to the previous two tracks, it starts off with sounds of traffic and cars driving and hooting, making me feel I am in a busy City in America, the kind they show you in movies of a busy walkway of New York or Los Angeles, I wonder what this song is going to sound like. I am then hit with hard drums and the singing starts, a great groovy track with lots of funk in the song, it is pretty hard not to start tapping my feet or nodding myself to the music because something about this huge sound and instruments, just hit you in all the right places, Tony Cintron appears on drums on this track as a special guest as well as world-renowned bassist Will Lee from the David Letterman show.
I am taken back to a time when Motown was huge. and rock and funk kind of joined together, The Hollywood Allstars kind of takes me back to that era, I await for the vocals to start on this track because if the previous tracks are anything to go by then I am going to be very happy once the vocals hit. just before I hear any kind of vocals though, I am hit with a cool lead guitar solo and then the vocals start. and once again I am impressed by the strong vocals accompanying the big sound and how well each instrument is played.
What I am getting from each song so far is the lyrics, each song is well written, kind of taking the listener on a journey, with each lyric it seems to tell a story that is evident of Living In America. In my opinion, this is also the strongest song on the album, it’s a very catchy, cool chorus, and a big sound and I think this track would be a good choice to send out to the radio as it will get a lot of airplay.
I am once again wanting to see this band play live, I really do think it must be such an awesome experience to witness. I really do hope this band comes to South Africa soon
Earlier on with all the huge sounds and big band music, I wondered if there would be a ballad or a slow mellow track on the EP to help us catch our breath, I was pleasantly greeted with that track in the name of track 4 called The River. This is a beautifully written track with a much softer mellow sound of a ballad, but once again the lyrics are captivating and tell a beautiful story that you kind of go on a beautiful journey with the vocals and mellow music, This is just what the EP needed and it was put in the perfect place from the previous bigger sounding tracks, this song is beautiful and just allows you to catch your breath and enjoy the beautiful melody and words of the song. I am captivated by the emotion of words and lyrics and the softer sound accompanies the vocals so well, showing off the vast talent of the band that they can do a big huge sound and energetic music and then bring it right down to something as soothing and beautiful; as this song, is there nothing this band can’t do? I am especially taken aback by the bit of choir singing I can hear in the song.
Moving onto the next single, and I call it a single because I do believe this is also a very strong single on the EP, and along with Living in America, I think this song would do well on the radio as well. The name of this track is What Good Is Your Body (If You Have No Soul), and if I were to explain the genre or sound of this song, that is exactly what I would call it, Good old Soul music with a great sound and lyrics again. What I would like to mention when I hear this band’s music, especially in this song, is their music has so much energy and is so positive, that it just puts me straight in a good mood.
Track 6 is Living in America again, but a shorter radio edit of the song with no intro of the traffic you hear in the previous version earlier but perhaps a track more suitable for if you in a rush and just want to hear the song again or it is probably the version you will hear on radio as it is shorter like I mentioned and gets straight to the point, still equally as great but in my opinion I do prefer the album version earlier as it tells more of a story and I would suggest you listen to that version more
As the EP is finished now and I reach the end of my review I find myself satisfied with the band’s great sound and latest offering, I am left out of breath and enjoyed it more than I thought I would, I hope the band is working on a new longer album because I definitely need more of The Hollywood Allstars in my life
The production and recording are so well done and each note sung or played is amazing, there isn’t much or anything at all I can fault with this EP. The EP was produced by Steve Gaspár and , guitarist Andy Abel. There is a difference when a band rushes through a recording or if they do it professionally and make it better for the listener and in this case, it was definitely the latter.
I can picture myself listening to this album when I need some uplifting energy music to lift up my mood, Trust me, listen to Field Of Grace the full EP from start to finish, and your mood will change instantly for the better
I would like to congratulate Steve and all who worked on the EP, You definitely have an awesome EP on your hands and I think it will do well all over the world.
To Read A Full Interview With Steve Gaspár Click HERE
To Listen To The Full Interview On Anything Goes Podcast ClickHere
The Field of Grace The EP is available HERE
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