By Ljubinko Zivkovic, Rock At Night Amsterdam
Review: Seal Party – MMXXII-Release date September 30, 2022
When seasoned session men step out of the shadows to come up with the music of their own, they usually engage another set of seasoned colleagues and/or big names to join them. Unfortunately, in many cases these efforts end up as some sort of a free-for-all jam sessions or result in the big names overshadowing the artists that wanted to go out on their own. Well, there are exceptions, and here we have one – Seal Party and their album ‘MMXXII.’
Seal Party are Chris McGrew (drums/production) and Kevin Seal (keyboards/vocals) a duo of seasoned session men, who played with practically anybody who is a big name but combine as a songwriting duo here to realize their own music.
Sure, they bring in seasoned colleagues and big-name collaborators, actually 22 of them, a bit hard to list all of them here. Yet, that is not the important thing here, as McGrew and Seal stand out, particularly as songwriters that are actually able to come up with their own individual musical vision.
That vision is a combination of practically all the musical styles they covered themselves in their careers with other artists, but two elements dominate, a combination of melodic art rock, somewhere between Electric Light Orchestra and Boston, combined with the California blue-eyed soul of the seventies.
As you might expect from such seasoned artists and their equally qualified guests, they come up with some clear, concise, but at the same time both inventive and familiar sounding music at the same time.
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Album Credits
CREDITSChris McGrew – drums, percussionLiam Wesley Craddock – bass, acoustic guitarRich Armstrong – trumpetEvan Kahn – celloKevin Seal – vocals, Rhodes electric pianoWritten & produced by Chris McGrew & Kevin SealRecorded by Liam Wesley Craddock & Chris McGrewat Wally’s HydeOut in Hyde Street Studios, San FranciscoMixed by Jaimeson Durr & Chris McGrewMastered by Justin Weis‘MMXXII’ album cover artwork by Tony CalzarettaArtist photos by Shealin Ritter and Maryzelle Ungo
This record involves world-class horn players, violinists, organists and vocalists. An all-star cast of 22 collaborators includes music royalty like Isaiah Sharkey (D’Angelo, John Mayer, Patti LaBelle) and Keyon Harrold (D’Angelo, Maxwell), punk icon Larry Boothroyd (Jello Biafra, Victims Family), bassist Uriah Duffy (Whitesnake, Fantastic Negrito), Ben Misterka (Collectivity), saxophonist Kenneth Whalum (Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake), trumpeter Rich Armstrong (Spoon, Boz Scaggs, Thomas Dolby), guitarist Jonnie Axtell (Psychefunkapus, Dee Snider, Tone Loc) and saxophonist Daniel Casares (Atta Kid, Jazz Mafia, the New Mastersounds).
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