Fourplay (Fourplay album)
Fourplay is the debut album of the contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay which was released by Warner Bros. Records on September 17, 1991. The album cover showed four pictures of the original group on a variety of musical instruments (such as a guitar, piano keys and a drum). The album has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the United States and has thus been certified platinum by the RIAA.[1]
Their album charted at the No. 1 position on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts for an unprecedented 33 weeks.
Review
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| Allmusic |   [2] |
This CD was the debut of Fourplay, the super quartet composed of keyboardist Bob James, guitarist Lee Ritenour, bassist Nathan East and drummer Harvey Mason. The style is a soulful blend of jazz, R&B, and pop with an emphasis on original compositions by each band member. El DeBarge lends his seductive vocals to the Marvin Gaye classic "After The Dance" to round out this musical masterpiece.
Track listing
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| 1. | "Bali Run" | Lee Ritenour, Bob James | 5:32 |
| 2. | "101 Eastbound" | Nathan East, Marcel East | 5:57 |
| 3. | "Foreplay" | Lee Ritenour | 5:26 |
| 4. | "Moonjogger" | Bob James | 6:16 |
| 5. | "Max-O-Man" | Harvey Mason, Sr., Michael Lang | 5:33 |
| 6. | "After the Dance (featuring El DeBarge)" | Marvin Gaye, T-Boy Ross, Leon Ware | 6:05 |
| 7. | "Quadrille" | Marvin Gaye, Bob James | 5:43 |
| 8. | "Midnight Stroll" | Harvey Mason, Sr. | 4:44 |
| 9. | "October Morning" | Lee Ritenour | 5:01 |
| 10. | "Wish You Were Here" | Lee Ritenour | 6:11 |
| 11. | "Rain Forest" | Bob James | 6:05 |
[3]
Personnel
Musicians
- Bob James played a Yamaha C7 Midi Grand Piano, Synthesizers, Keyboards and Programming
- Lee Ritenour played a Gibson ES-335, Gibson L-5, Gibson Midi-Max Guitar Synthesizer, Gibson Chet Atkins Electric/Classical Guitar, Roger Sadowski Electric/Classical Guitar
- Nathan East played a Yamaha LB1 5-String Bass and the TRB 6-String Bass
- Harvey Mason played Gretsch Drums, Gibraltar Racks, Brady Snare Drums and Vic Firth Drums Sticks
- El DeBarge – Lead Vocals, Background vocals
- Patti LaBelle - Background vocals
- Philip Bailey - Background vocals
- Darrell DeBarge - Background vocals
Production
- Fourplay – Producer
- Don Murray - Engineer
- Mike Kloster - Assistant Engineer
- Bob James - Executive Producer
- Debra Johnson - Production Coordination
- Marcel East - Additional Engineering & Overdubs
- Harvey Mason, Jr. - Technical Assistance
- Paul May - Guitar Technical Engineer
- Don Murray - Engineer, Remixing, Mixing
- Clif Norrell - Assistant Engineer
- Robert Vosgien - Digital Editing & Mastering
- Wally Traugott - Mastering
- Spencer Chrislu - Mastering, Audio Master, Authoring
Charts
Album – Billboard
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
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| 1991 |
Top Contemporary Jazz Albums |
1 |
| 1991 |
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums |
16 |
| 1991 |
The Billboard 200 |
91 |
References
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