Making It Sweet: Coke Escovedo Posted by Junior

Coke Escovedo: Easy Come, Easy Go and Make It Sweet From: Coke [Mercury, 1975] Don't you love it when a song randomly comes on to your Mp3 player/stereo and it syncs perfectly with your mood and situation? I had one of those pleasant moments yesterday when the constant British rain was interrupted by some absolutely glorious sunshine. As the first rays hit my brow Coke Escovedo's Easy Come, Easy Go started piping into my ears and everything felt right for a blissful few minutes. Needless to say the sun didn't last long but it was a necessary reminder that I've never featured the group in all my years of blogging. Some background info: Coke Escovedo was a percussionist who honed his act first in Santana and then on Azteca's first two albums in the early seventies before enjoying some moderate solo sucess, particularly with the breakbeat classic I Wouldn't Change a Thing. Thanks god for the hour of sunshine as the blend of styles Coke and band display on his self titled debut is more than worthy of a post offering up a lip smacking mix of latin funk and soul. The afore mentioned track, Easy Come, Easy Go, is a great piece of stop/start funk with a post Loading Zone Linda Tillery delivering a vocal performance that absolutely rips it up. Thumbs up for the bongo breakdown as well. Make It Sweet is, as the title suggests, a sweeter effort. Starting with a whooping audience the track slowly picks up speed as Linda's vocals are joined by some smooth playing and percussion, crafting a track perfect for a dancefloor get down.