Last year,
Mark Portmann set the standard for highway cruise music with his sonically correct Driving Beverly Hills. The worthiest release in this category for 1995 thus far is
Peter Elman's simply irresistible
Race Point, whose only apparent flaw is the deception of the new agey postcard pictures which adorn the CD booklet and might steer folks clear of this venturesome joyride. Ditto the sentimental titles like "Caleb's Reef" and "Into the Wind." A paean to his musical upbringing in Cape Cod, the tunes are assembled into a mosaic of the road that the keyboardist began traveling in two previous releases. There are a few truck stops along the way where
Elman and his capable cohorts (most notably, guitarists John Blakeley, Stevie Gurr, and
Stef Burns) stop to smell the vistas, but the focus of the excursion is a series of hills and valleys which sort of lope along lazily before exploding into eight cylinder jobs which push the speed limit. Imagery to the wayside, the heart of
Elman's vision lies in his tasty way with a tight pop fusion hook. ~ Jonathan Widran