New Elgart Touch

"Why Don't You Do Right" starts things off in a mellow, soulful vein, and "Caravan" is all about the beat. While "The Elgart Touch" is a lazy, quiet, Southern-sounding ballad, more typical of their new sound is "Harlem Nocturne." Its discotheque (rock) beat and basic solos are nothing new, just surprisingly effective. In the jazzier "And the Angels Sing," the Elgarts try a variety of things over a subtle mambo rhythm. Adventurous as it is, The New Elgart Touch has a winsomely tentative quality, like the bossa nova beat itself, that makes it cooler and more listenable than most mod brass. ~ Tony Wilds