Featured Artist: Frank Unzueta and One World

CD Title: Share My Love

Year: 2008

Record Label: Sunstone Records

Style: Smooth Jazz

Musicians:  Frank Unzueta – lead vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar; Alandras Brown – lead vocals, percussion; Mitchell Chavez – electric guitar; Al Salas – congas, percussion; Larry Steen – electric bass; Gail Gerding Mellert - electric violin, electric viola; Eric Marienthal – saxophones; uncredited musician on drums.

Review:

Keyboardist, guitarist, and vocalist Frank Unzueta leads his band One World through a set of a dozen or so original tunes on “Share My Love”. Not content to remain in one stylistic bag, One World's music is a blend of contemporary pop, soul, smooth jazz, and various Latin music hybrids. The stylistic variation from track-to-track is almost dizzying, but Unzueta and his talented, versatile band pull it off with aplomb.

Also the leader of a straight-ahead jazz piano trio, Unzueta solos mostly on acoustic guitar throughout “Share My Love”, though he gets some piano licks in on 'Give Yourself To Me'. He also shares the lead vocal duties with Alandras Brown. While neither are particularly versatile vocalists, they split the vocal chores appropriately and effectively, stumbling in only a few places. The contrast between Unzueta's breathy tenor and Brown's gospel-steeped baritone is unsettling at times. Unzueta's voice is perfect for the mellow, acoustic tune 'She Longed For His Love', though he sounds strained on the heavier, more upbeat tracks. Brown, who acquits himself quite nicely on the hard-rocking 'Orale', seems out of his element on the lighter pop tunes, such as 'Give Yourself To Me'.

The majority of the tunes on “Share My Love” suggest a hybrid of Santana's latino-rock sound and Steely Dan's high-gloss, studio-savvy contemporary pop feel, with a dash of blue-eyed soul á la Hall & Oates. Violinist Gail Gerding Mellert is an appealing and distinctive lead voice throughout “Share My Love” - her playing lifts several of these tunes out of the ordinary, imparting an almost otherworldly Gypsy flair to 'My Love Where Are You?' and 'Southern Girl'. Electric guitarist Mitchell Sanchez contributes blazing leads throughout, and solos in a gritty and convincing manner on the CD's most dynamic tracks 'Oralé' and 'Kongo'. Special guest Eric Marienthal contributes jazzy saxophone to three tracks, including 'Tina Mas Fina', a piquant instrumental tip-of-the-hat to the great Mexican-Cuban bandleader Perez Prado. Unzueta's Latin roots also come to the forefront on the title track, the too brief instrumental 'Kongo', the salsa-influenced 'Un Hombre Esperando', and the very appealing, CD-closing 'Julia'.

“Share My Love” is a pleasant enough CD, and may have considerable appeal to smooth jazz fans and to those looking for some pleasant latin-influenced sounds that don't pose any particular challenges to the casual listener.

Tracks:  Share My Love; Got A Letter; Las Calles; Fully Loaded Chevy (Intro); Oralé; Tina Mas Fina; She Longed For His Love; Give Yourself To Me (Intro); Give Yourself To Me; Kongo; My Love Where Are You?; If You Were Mine; Un Hombre Esperando; Southern Girl; Julia (Espanol)

Record Label Website: http://www.sunstonerecords.com/pages/world.html

Artist's Website: http://www.myspace.com/frankunzueta

Reviewed by: Dave Wayne

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