Larry Carlton - Alone/But Never Alone (1986)

Front Cover	Album Info
	Artist/Composer Larry Carlton Title Alone/But Never Alone Length 33:20 Discs: 1 Tracks: 7 Format HQ 192+ kbps Packaging Jewel Case Label MCA Cat. Number 5689 Style Crossover Jazz; Fusion Rating Recorded 1986  Comment łatwizna

Musicians	Credits
Larry Carlton guitar Terry Trotter keyboards Abraham Laboriel bass Rick Marotta drums Michael Fisher percussion	Producer Larry Carlton Engineer Rik Pekkonen Mastering Bernie Grundman

Track list

01 Smiles And Smiles To Go 05:51 02 Perfect Peace 04:32 03 Carrying You 04:04 04 The Lord's Prayer 05:10 05 Whatever Happens 04:31 06 Pure Delight 05:37 07 Alone/But Never Alone 03:35

Notes

AMG Review by Stewart Mason (4 1/2): One of the few smooth jazz artists of the '80s to make music that's simultaneously melodically substantial and sonically contemplative, Larry Carlton hit a career high on 1986's Alone/But Never Alone. Playing only acoustic guitar (with electric bass, drums, and synthesizers on most tracks), Carlton neatly sidesteps the twin pitfalls of new age mush and smooth jazz showboating, playing neatly phrased, well-thought solo lines against a variety of melodic and rhythmic backgrounds. The acoustic focus gives the album a timeless quality, even though a few tracks feature synthesizer lines that betray their mid-'80s origins, and the obviously spiritual quality of the music (song titles include not only the higher-power-oriented title track, but "Smiles and Smiles to Go" and "Perfect Peace," and the centerpiece track is an instrumental setting of a common tune for "The Lord's Prayer") is becalming without being drippy or pillow-soft. This is not an album that will change the mind of those dead-set against smooth jazz, but it's a small masterpiece of the genre.