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Henri Cross songwriter, musician, U.S.A. |
 Music CD, 2001. En.Trance by Henri Cross, featuring Tracey Harris, U.S.A. Born in 1951 in Georgia, U.S.A. I have been involved in music in some form or another for most of my life. Started with singing in church choirs, glee clubs, studied violin then guitar, and keyboards. Tried working in Los Angeles studios, and playing night clubs. Played in various groups. Worked with guitarist giant H. Ray Crawford for a few years. First original song to be released on a major label was a collaboration with John Barnes called "The International Jamboree" which was released on the Arista label by the group 'Madagascar.' The song was performed by Herb Alpert and Lani Hall at opening of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. |
list of tracks
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The new CD from Henri Cross `Entrance` is a refreshingly smooth blend of jazzy RnB. I was at times reminded of early Stevie Wonder, EWF and The Isley Brothers particularly 3+3 (that shows my age!). However the album is also very contemporary and uses beats, raps and a nice smattering of Latin influences.
En.trance contains one of the nicest arrangements of `Blessed is the Spot` that I have come across- very tranquil nylon guitar (a la Jobim), beautiful singing -close miked and intimate, where the vocalist allows the melody to breathe supported by some muscular bass guitar and what sounds like a small gospel choir.
The whole recording is excellent and a pleasure to listen to. I feel absolutely certain that Henri is a killer musician of great experience and a real perfectionist in the studio.
In case I sound overly gushing I have two criticisms firstly - I`m not sure why the live version of Stevie Wonder`s `Master Blaster' is included- rather too much of a contrast with the rest of the album I`d say and secondly some of the rapping sounds a little dated, (at least to this white boy!)
Back to the superlatives `Love is a Rose` is another standout track with sublime Sanbornesque saxophone and laid back funky beats. References to the Bahá´í faith permeate the CD in a way that does not seem forced or unnatural -it`s refreshing to have spirituality expressed in a way that is sophisticated funky and uplifting. Further info and downloadable tracks can located at: www.henricross.com
Excerpt from Arts Dialogue, February 2002, page 3
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