Dion - New York Is My Home (2016)

''Dion comes from a time when so-so singers couldn't cut it, they either never got heard or got exposed quick and got out of the way. To have it, you really had to have it, no smoke and mirrors then, not a minute to spare, rough and ready, glorious and grand, grieving with heartache and feeling too much, but still with the always 'better not try it' attitude.'' - –Bob Dylan

''All hail Dion, the real link between Frank Sinatra and rock n roll.'' - –Bruce Springsteen

Nearly six decades after his first hit, Dion Dimucci's real deal voice having lost absolutely nothing, the King of the Bronx teams here with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Vivino on 10 new tracks, all but two of them co-written by Dion. The one that's getting most of the buzz is the title track, and rightfully so. A duet with Paul Simon, it's filled not so much with nostalgic pining as eternal love: for the place, the attitude and and the sense of belonging the city [of New York] offers. Burrowing down into specifics, the Chuck Berry-esque ''The Apollo King'' is Dion's homage to first hearing saxophonist Big Al Sears at the local temple of R&B, while ''Visionary Heart'' could've been a lost Doc Pomus composition. And it wouldn't be Dion without a nod to the blues: his take on Lightnin' Hopkins' ''Katie Mae'' is, all at once, somehow raw, slick, nasty and smooth. **** ––Mojo

TRACKLIST
1. Aces Up Your Sleeve (3:04)
2. Can't Go Back To Memphis (4:21)
3. New York Is My Home (Feat. Paul Simon) (4:27)
4. The Apollo King (3:44)
5. Katie Mae (4:02)
6. I'm Your Gangster Of Love (3:23)
7. Ride With You (4:13)
8. I'm All Rocked Up (3:38)
9. Visionary Heart (3:47)
10. I Ain't For It (3:28)