New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Carli Muñoz, infamous Puerto Rico jazz pianist-composer, has released his remarkable rock debut LP, "In My Soul." The album in composed of 11 tracks for a total of 46 minutes' worth of listening, making it a fairly comprehensive release for Muñoz's first collection of rock music. The inception of the record stretches back to the 1960s, when Muñoz first composed its heart and "soul."
"It was cathartic to revisit the work on 'In My Soul,'" muses Muñoz. "I had these pieces for decades. I never talked about them, but they haunted me. They're the heart of my abilities as a pop composer."
The songs of "
In My Soul" have a broad range in scope and tone, sometimes belting out like the music of
Heart or Fleetwood Mac, and often bearing a strong similarity to Elton John's more energetic material, such as the power-pop hit, "Bennie and the Jets." Also present are doses of country-western (not the watered-down, modern pop-rock variety, but the western kind) and 40s- and 50s-era blues. Muñoz's vocals are a deep, crackling charcoal color, like a cross between
Waylon Jennings and Leonard Bernstein, and although his piano playing is masterful and full of passion, the songwriting careful, brilliant and refined, his natural singing voice remains one of the album's best qualities.
Muñoz's decision to record these rock compositions at last stems partly from the tenacity of the music, itself. Through decades of performing and recording jazz with some of the world's best players, the songs reminded themselves to him, even if he has kept them to himself all along. It seems the music appealed to the youthful, adventurous facets of his character. "Once I dreamt that I was a rock n' roll star under the moonlight," he says, alluding to Track 5 of his album. "Rock n' roll and moonlight happened to mix well for me because I was a child growing up in the early rock era, and at the same time a hopeless romantic dreaming of dancing with the girl of my dreams to Guy Lombardo beneath the moon."
Muñoz has played or recorded with (among a great many others) Wilson Pickett, The Beach Boys,
George Benson, Les McCann,
Chico Hamilton, Wayne Henderson, Charles Lloyd,
Peter Cetera, and Evie Sands. In December of 1998 Carli opened Carli Café Concierto, now called Carli's Fine Bistro and Piano, in Puerto Rico. The bistro is a world-class, fine-dining and live-jazz restaurant where Muñoz himself performs. He often records under his own label, Pelosenel Q Lo Records.
"
In My Soul" is one of the best-composed, best-performed, and best-produced rock albums the industry has seen in years, being chock full of intelligence, emotion, and groove.
Music fans can wrap their ears around Carli Muñoz's one-and-only rock masterpiece beginning February 8, 2013, available online worldwide.
The LP "
In My Soul" is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes or www.top40-charts.com for convenient purchase and download.
