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Keyboardist/Koto player Yutaka Yokokoro, with Patti Austin, and Lani Groves on background vocals. From the album "Lovelight" (1978)

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[Edited 7/31/12 16:40pm]

I've always loved that song. Never understood why it's never shown up on any Patti Austin compilation.

Here's Angie Bofill's reading of it:

[Edited 7/31/12 16:49pm]

kitbradley said:

I've always loved that song. Never understood why it's never shown up on any Patti Austin compilation.

Good question, I think it's certainly a classic...

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Great album!!

Dave Grusin was not the only American presence in on the sessions of this Japanese album. Among the bigger names was drummer Steve Gadd. Gadd’s lone appearance is on the opening song “Breath Of Night.” I’m not sure if his feature here was some sort of trick to give the impression that he drummed on the entire album, but it sure had me thinking that. The rest of the drumming is provided by the lesser known Steve Schaeffer who does a very good imitation of Gadd, closely replicating his distinctive stiffness. Back to “Breath Of Night,” the playing of Steve Gadd is not, in fact, that important as little had to be done percussively to improve this hard hitting masterpiece that sounds like it is straight from the soundtrack of an action film. The problem is, Yutaka is less present on this opener than anywhere else on the album, turning the focus into this case to his sideman Kazu Matsui on shakuhachi, a Japanese sort of flute. He takes the spotlight back as the tone turns dramatically more upbeat for “Dragonfly,” a soul-jazz tune where Yutaka and Dave Grusin take turns soloing, Yutaka in a very Bob James like manner on the Rhodes and Grusin with various sounds on his synthesizer. The mid portions of the song are occupied by a gorgeous solo on koto, a very pleasant instrument which many of us do not get a chance to hear often. The album’s focus after “Dragonfly” is on vocals for a couple tracks, which is the bad thing in the case of “Love Light” as I mentioned before, but not so much in the slap bass driven “The Rest Of My Life” which also has a notable Rhodes solo.”Love Light’s” last two numbers are both, respectively, take different approaches than heard earlier in the album. “Oriental Express” is, surprisingly enough, the most American sounding song on the album but its difference comes in the emphasis on the relatively small horn section, especially during the songs chorus as the rest is very electronic. The album closes with an airy, spacious tune where the majority of the musicians step aside Yutaka and Dave Grusin who take a spiritual, new-age sounding approach to closing out the album. This song, “Haiku” makes the album’s only use of acoustic piano, which says a lot after the very electric affair that is the rest of “Love Light.”

A beautiful song.... LOOOVE Patti Austin, saw her live last year, wish she could do more of her old songs live, instead of just Ella songs.