Fortunado
Escort

There are very few words I have to describe Fortunado's latest release. My love of the band has grown since the first time I saw them at the Webster Underground back in September of 2004 (almost a year ago), and it pinnacles with their latest release, the Escort EP. I picked it up at their last show before they all went their seperate ways to college last night, and let it be said, it's been on repeat since last night.

The three track effort opens up with my favorite song of theirs, Clap Drip. The opening horn line and harmonies are absolutely glorious, coupled with the high energy performance of their rhythm section. This song pinnacles the one thing about Fortunado I absolutely adore; they don't try to be ska, they don't try to be funk, they don't really adhere to a genre, and Clap Drip really shows that off, going back and forth between straight rock, ska, jazz, and an almost disco-y feel to the drums. The chorus vocals are absolutely stunning, not that I'd expect any less from the duo of Sean and Johnny at this point. When it gets to the end of the song with the repeated chorus, the little break with just guitar, drums, and alto sax absolutely blows me away. Ben might be one of the best horn players in CT at this moment, and it shows on all of the songs. The next song, a cover of Britney Spears' smash hit Toxic, opens with the only real gripe I have with the CD; there's a really screechy, piercingly high scrape noise that last for an excruicating twenty-two seconds. When the song actually came in, I couldn't help but laugh even though I've heard the song live a handful of times. The arrangement of the song is flawless, alternating between straight rock, hip-hop like breakdowns, and a metal section at the end. The performance is stellar, and even though I still feel dirty listening to the song, it's a huge improvement over the original. The EP closes with HJ in the Dancehall, laden with awesome grooves and great horn accents. It's got a few amazing sax solos from Ben again, even featuring a little reference to Gershwin's "Summertime", which is awesome. Overall, it's a solid track; I'm not as into it as Clap Drip, but it's definitely well done, especially with lyrics like "Here's a song, time to groove / I'll bust more than a move," which is pretty self-descriptive.

I wouldn't say it's a perfect album; there's a lot of little recording things that sound a little odd, but there's a great deal of amazing things going on on this album; the vocals are solid, and the horns are absolutely stellar, especially the harmonies. It's nice to see a band that can really use all the textures of all their instruments to the fullest potential. I'd definitely suggest picking a copy of this up whenever possible. For now, you can listen to "HJ in the Dancehall" on CT Ska's MP3 Player.

Reviewed By:  Todd Springer

Date:  Sat 2 Sep 06

Score:  10.0

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