City Music

An early AOR album with a pop sensibility, a funky pulse and a danceable, urban feel. Puerto Rican-born Jorge Calderón worked in New York before moving to Los Angeles, where he met producer Keith Olsen and recorded a demo. Warner Bros. producer Russ Titelman liked what he heard, and the album was made under contract.

‘Kiss and Run’ is a funky number reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac; that band also recorded it, and their version surfaced on the expanded edition of Tusk in 2004. ‘All the Faces’ has a pleasantly mellow flavour and an assured vocal. Both songs were produced by Keith Olsen, and Calderón’s appeal was already fully formed. There is also the attractive falsetto of ‘At the Beehive’, the rhythmically nimble ‘Bangkok Panama Pawnshop’ and the reggae-flavoured ‘What You Wanna Hear’.

This was his only album from that period. He went on to accompany David Lindley and Warren Zevon, among others, and later released further solo recordings as download-only releases.