In the 1960s Joe Sample was a founder member of the influential jazz funk combo The Crusaders. Having learnt to play the piano at the age of five, his musical roots were to develop under the influence of many different traditions, including gospel, soul, blues, Latin, and classical music. Randy Crawford drew from a similar musical heritage but mainly comes from a gospel background. She gained notoriety with a number of solo hits (Rainy Night In Georgia, You Might Need Somebody, One Day I'll Fly Away) in the early 1980s but was unable to sustain chart success and for many has subsequent years had a fairly low profile. 'Feeling Good' produced in 2006 can be seen as a reunion of these two artists. It is an album on which they have reignited the special chemistry that was first set alight in 1976 when Sample played on Crawford's debut album, 'Everything Must Change' and when Crawford was later invited to perform with The Crusaders by singing the classic 1979 smash hit 'Street Life' - a song written especially for her by Sample and a track used more recently to great effect on the soundtrack of Tarantino's film 'Jackie Brown'.

The combination of vibrant vocals and sparse instrumental arrangements on this CD is at times simply spellbinding. The collection of classic tracks include Latin influences such as the gentle samba rhythm of 'Rio de Janeiro Blue' and the sensuous Bossa Nova swing of 'End of the Line'. There are more traditional forms such as the bluesy Billie Holiday cover "Tell Me More and More and Then Some" and the warm embrace of 'Save all Your Love For me' on which Sample's mastery on piano keys highlights and exquisitely enhances Crawford's voice. These tracks are set alongside jazzy interpretations of more popular numbers such as Harry Nilsson's 'Everybody's Talkin' and the Leo Sayer hit 'When I need You'. I initially found the latter to be the one less appealing track on the album, but after a few listens Crawford's sublime Gospel-like vocal goes a long way to obliterating any resonance of the cheesy Leo Sayer original. The fluctuating funky Caribbean rhythms on Nina Simone's See-Line Woman is a beautifully rendered composition as is the seductive ballad 'All Night Long'. But this isn't merely an album of modern jazz interpretations; listen out for a sample from The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" on the interpretation of Peter Gabriel's 'Love Town'.

'Feeling Good' is an album built to last. It is a CD that you can play repeatedly, knowing each time you will hear something differently, some previously unnoticed subtle nuance. It is an album that expertly expresses the art of song interpretation and one where Crawford's soulful vocal set against Sample's seductive instrumental arrangements will draw you in and make you believe in the truly dynamic magical chemistry of these two artists.