Leah Kunkel

Cass Elliot's younger sister and the wife of drummer Russ Kunkel, Leah was at the centre of the Los Angeles scene through her participation in records by Jackson Browne and Stephen Bishop. This is her first solo album. Supporting her are familiar session musicians: Russ, Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Leland Sklar on bass and Craig Doerge on keyboards. It has the delightfully relaxed atmosphere of the gifted musicians behind the West Coast sound bringing homemade dishes to a party.

Alongside covers of the Mamas & the Papas, the Bee Gees and Marvin Gaye, Seals & Crofts, then experimenting with a new-wave sound, contribute a mellow song—a particularly pleasing touch. Leah supplies two originals, the best being ‘Under the Jamaican Moon,’ co-written with Stephen Bishop, whose work Nick DeCaro had recorded on Italian Graffiti (1974). Her clear, supple voice is like the evening breeze sweeping across the West Coast.