Cast Your Fate To The Wind – SOUNDS ORCHESTRAL****

Something’s Coming/Cast Your Fate To The Wind/Scarlatti Potion No. 9/At The Mardi Gras/When Love Has Gone/To Wendy With Love/Sounds Anonymous/Carnival/Downtown/Scarlatti Potion No. 5/Love Letters/Like The Lonely

Sounds Orchestral was a British studio based easy listening group, assembled by John Schroeder with Johnny Pearson in 1964. The title track hit single on Cast You Fate To The Wind reached the UK top five. It is unfortunate that Sounds Orchestral are not better known as the group created a seductive blend of romantic strings with uptempo jazz. (UK:17)

"British pianist Johnny Pearson and producer John Schroeder teamed up initially to cover Vince Guaraldi's US hit Cast Your Fate To The Wind, and went on to make twenty best-selling albums of jazz-influenced pop instrumentals together. Always accessible but with a cool middle-eight, and touches of classical. I loved this album when I first heard it."

"Great piano skills by Pearson with a very smooth sound behind him. The rendition of Wendy on this album is the best I've ever heard."

"Sounds Orchestral provide a distinctive sound of a strings-rich soft jazz type of pop orchestra. Just lovely, and there is a quality that almost makes people feel as though they could soar if they really tried. Cast Your Fate To The Wind is one of those songs that is larger than life. Love all the musical variations within it."

"I've been buying Johnny Pearson's albums because I think he's one of the more interesting arranger for pops, and an extremely competent pianist."

“Cast Your Fate To The Wind is, like Cole Porter’s Love For Sale or Gershwin’s Summertime, one of the great musical palettes upon which artistic musicians are able to freely express themselves. And many have. Almost as soon as it came out, musicians flocked to this tune as a means of channelling their own expression."

"Schroeder provides the unobtrusive yet cinematic string accents. Pearson’s solo curiously mixes gospel flourishes with a cocktail-bar tinkler’s heavy handed approach to Tin Pan Alley, but maintains interest nonetheless."