''Barefoot on the Beach'' is a

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

album by American singer-songwriter Michael Franks, released in 1999 by

Windham Hill Records Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

Background

Franks' relationship with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

(and its subsidiary

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

) which began with the 1976 album '' The Art of Tea'' ended with ''Barefoot on the Beach''. The album was his first and only release by Windham Hill, a Sony Music label; subsequent albums would be released by Koch (

E1 Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

) and

Shanachie Records Shanachie Records is an American, New Jersey-based record label, founded in 1975 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. The label is named for the Gaelic word ''seanchaí'' (anglicised as shanachie), an Irish storyteller. It was previously distribu ...

. His compilation albums continued to be released by Warner Bros. The album includes Valerie Simpson, who sings a duet in "Now Love Has No End",

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

, and

Jimmy Haslip James Robert Haslip (born December 31, 1951) is an American bass guitarist who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group the Yellowjackets, which he left in 2012. He was also an early user of the five-string electric bass. Early life and ...

The Yellowjackets Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ri ...

. Although the album evokes summer, it also contains biting commentary on

Broadcast Architecture Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

's dominance of American smooth jazz

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

at the time with "Mr. Smooth". Lyrics such as "some of us remember how much choice there was, before he took the throne" and "his verdict we must wait" lament the dominance and perceived heavy-handed influence of the network on the genre.

Track listing

Personnel

* Michael Franks – vocals *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

– trumpet * Larry Lunetta – trumpet *

Birch Johnson Birch "Crimson Slide" Johnson (born 1953 in Dublin, Georgia) is an American trombonist. He is a first call studio trombonist, Emmy-nominated composer, producer and songwriter based in New York City. He graduated from the University of Alabama, rec ...

– trombone * James Hynes – flugelhorn *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

– saxophone * Chris Hunter – saxophone, flute *

Bob Mintzer Robert Alan Mintzer (born January 27, 1953) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. Early life Mintzer was born and raised in a Jewish family in New Rochelle, New York, on January 27, 1953. He attended the Inter ...

– saxophone * Andy Snitzer – saxophone * David Mann – flute * Bob James – piano *

Charles Blenzig Charles Blenzig (born August 12, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator. In the mid 1980s Blenzig joined the Gil Evans Monday Night Orchestra that performed weekly at Sweet basil Jazz Club. Blenzig has perf ...

– keyboards * Chris Palmaro – keyboards * Mike Ricchiuti – keyboards * Jay Azzolina – guitar *

Chuck Loeb Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay. Early years and education Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At a ...

– guitar *

Steve Khan Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn; April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...

– guitar * Jeff Mironov – guitar *

– bass guitar, keyboards *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper' ...

– bass guitar *

John Patitucci John Patitucci (born December 22, 1959) is an American jazz bassist and composer. Biography John James Patitucci was born in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 12, he bought his first bass and decided on his career. He listened to bass parts in R ...

– double bass *

Dave Samuels David Alan Samuels (October 9, 1948 – April 22, 2019) was an American vibraphone and marimba player who spent many years with the contemporary jazz group Spyro Gyra. His recordings and live performances during that period also reflect his p ...

– vibraphone * Brian Dunne – drums *

Shawn Pelton Shawn Pelton is an American drummer and percussionist. He has recorded with a wide range of artists and has been a first call player since moving to New York in the late 1980s. Shawn has recorded with artists such as Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, ...

– drums *

Wolfgang Haffner Wolfgang Haffner (born 7 December 1965) is a German jazz drummer with an extensive discography.Discographyat Allmusic Discography * 2020 - Kind of Tango * 2019 – ''4WD'' (with Nils Landgren) * 2019 – ''The East End'' (with Bill Evans) * 20 ...

– drums *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern D ...

– drums * David Charles – percussion *

Bashiri Johnson Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is a New York City-based percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, videogames, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded ...

– percussion *

Valerie Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...

– vocals *

Tawatha Agee Tawatha Agee (born November 14, 1954) is an American backing vocalist and songwriter. Her voice has been described in ''The New York Times'' as an "acrobatic, gospel-charged soprano." She was the lead singer of funk and soul band Mtume; her soulf ...

– backing vocals * Carmen Cuesta – backing vocals * Lani Groves – backing vocals *

Jim Beard James Arthur Beard (born August 26, 1960 in Philadelphia) is an American jazz pianist and keyboardist, composer, arranger and producer who has worked with Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Dennis Chambers ...

– strings

Reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Jonathan Widran praised Franks' vocal style and longevity. "Countless musical trends have steamrolled by since this wry singer songwriter with the cool and collected, wistful onionskin voice first graced the adult music world in the mid-'70s .yet Franks has stood his ground, growing as an observational lyricist while his relaxed demeanor stays pretty much the same, and charmingly so." He concluded the album is "the kind of spring in your step music Franks fashioned his career out of."

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Michael Franks (musician) albums 1999 albums Windham Hill Records albums