Adamo and his producer/guitarist Jerry Stucker take Tower of Power's classic funk number and give it a more sinewy vibe, elasticizing the vocals and the bass, while crackling up the song's more timpanic elements. This exuberantly self-assured remake recalls the Acid Jazz insouciance of the early 90s while harkening back to the Big Band era and the Vegas-y stylings of suave masters of self-confidence such as Tom Jones and Al Jarreau. Adamo has a brash self-assuredness and a sense of showmanship that's neither unearned nor in your face. You can almost picture him taking a drag from an unfiltered or sipping from a martini in between some of his spoken-word lines. And the arrangements are crisp, solid and spicy--punctuating Adamo's vocals and his been-there sung-that attitude.
http://www.strokeland.com
http://www.myspace.com/tonyrocadamo

Devon Jackson
Magazine Editor - Freelance Music Journalist

Devon Jackson has written about music and film for a variety of publications--from Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice to Rolling Stone and Details. He is also the author of Conspiranoia! and currently the editor of Santa Fean magazine