Fortune - Latin Thing

Hear The Track Here

Over the year or so that I have known Boston based Fortune, they have managed to snag some SIX Must Have's from me so they must be doing something right. Yeah, but you all think I'm a bit of a pushover right? Well every other reviewer I have read who encounters this excellent band, regardless of preference, fall victim to the jaw-on-the-floor syndrome. I'd say the bulk of their material I've heard (some eight or nine tracks) have been a very slick and extremely commercial blend of prog rock and pop that just begs for wider recognition. Add into that heady mix the fact that Fortune are a live, gigging band and you would think the real world music biz would be at their feet.

Riiiiiggghhhhttt. And who gives a **** anyway?

Nobody ever made it without a lot of real hard work, and I fear Fortune already know that only too well. It certainly shows in the extremely high degree of professionalism they bring both to their musical and production skills, Fortune are the real deal. I love working with Latin styles and it's nice to see that Latin Thing is exactly what I'm talking about. From the very first conga roll, you feel the heat being stoked up. One of my seminal influences was seeing Santana in the film of Woodstock, what a smoking band they were, and no one impressed me more than drummer Michael Shrieve who really worked his butt off. That's the way I feel about the drummers performance on this, absolutely spot on the money every time - a treat to hear.

Mind you, I could honestly say the same thing about every part of Latin Thing, from stylistic touches and feel to the way everything dovetails neatly. Damn it must get tiring to be this perfect :) Seriously, if I was in the market for some seriously righteous latin funkfest, this is exactly the kind of track I'd reach for. It's obvious influence would, of course, be Santana but having grown used to this band's particular sound, I hear much more Fortune than Mr S and Co. This is also the first instrumental I've ever heard from this band (I think) and it takes a special kind of instrumental to really navigate my ear canals, to lodge in my brain.

MUST HAVE latin rock instrumental. Seriously woooaaaahhhhhh.