Kathryn Kaye’s second album lives up to its title, offering a collection of gentle piano-based compositions that soothe the soul.
The CD offers a nice balance between solo piano performances, moving duets, and full but not overbearing band accompaniment.
Kaye is joined on this outing by such studio stalwarts as Tony Levin on bass, Eugene Friesen on cello, Charlie Bisharat on violin, Jill Haley on English horn, Michael Manring on fretless bass, Tom Eaton on accordion and percussion, Ramesh on percussion, and producer Will Ackerman on guitar.
Kaye is as masterful in her restraint as she is in the vernacular of the keyboard, knowing when to give in and when to hold back, yielding a satisfying listening experience. And her musical collaborators provide solid support without ever upstaging the proceedings.
The result is a delightfully rich and engaging concoction that is a sight for sore ears.
--Raj Manoharan
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
CD Review – The Tree and Other Stories, by David Hoffman
Multi-instrumentalist David Hoffman has pieced together a musical pastiche that masterfully blends jazz, folk, new age, and ambiance, resulting in a hypnotically mesmerizing listening experience.
The former Ray Charles band member lays down ethereal textures and funky grooves with synthesizers, over which he plays tantalizing but tastefully minimalist jazz-fusion trumpet solos. Hoffman also spices up this already delicious mix by adding in piano and flugelhorn, as well as voice, sampled programming including bass, percussion, and harmonica, and the sounds of nature.
Further support is provided by Hoffman’s trusty collaborator Paul Adams, an accomplished and versatile solo artist in his own right who lends his indisputable skills on hulusi and Native American flutes.
All of these elements coalesce into a subtle yet sonically rich musical mosaic that does indeed tell several captivating stories.
--Raj Manoharan
The former Ray Charles band member lays down ethereal textures and funky grooves with synthesizers, over which he plays tantalizing but tastefully minimalist jazz-fusion trumpet solos. Hoffman also spices up this already delicious mix by adding in piano and flugelhorn, as well as voice, sampled programming including bass, percussion, and harmonica, and the sounds of nature.
Further support is provided by Hoffman’s trusty collaborator Paul Adams, an accomplished and versatile solo artist in his own right who lends his indisputable skills on hulusi and Native American flutes.
All of these elements coalesce into a subtle yet sonically rich musical mosaic that does indeed tell several captivating stories.
--Raj Manoharan
Saturday, January 14, 2012
CD Review – Sleep: The Dreaming Flute, by Paul Adams
Flute master Paul Adams brings his considerable talents on woodwinds to bear on this grand, sweeping exploration of all the moods that can be achieved by the instruments.
The eleven-track CD is a soothing, relaxing collection of tunes that express everything from somberness and reflection to positive thinking and hopefulness. To achieve this effect, Adams utilizes a different Native American flute on each song.
The result is a sound that is not only calming and reassuring, but also reflective of the various sounds of indigenous culture and tradition.
Listeners looking for music to summon the muses of the world of sleep and take them to the soporific shores of the subconscious will find that Paul Adams’ woodwinds are the flutes that dreams are made of.
--Raj Manoharan
The eleven-track CD is a soothing, relaxing collection of tunes that express everything from somberness and reflection to positive thinking and hopefulness. To achieve this effect, Adams utilizes a different Native American flute on each song.
The result is a sound that is not only calming and reassuring, but also reflective of the various sounds of indigenous culture and tradition.
Listeners looking for music to summon the muses of the world of sleep and take them to the soporific shores of the subconscious will find that Paul Adams’ woodwinds are the flutes that dreams are made of.
--Raj Manoharan
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Happy Birthday, Andy Summers!
Today is the 69th birthday of my favorite guitarist and musician of all time – Andy Summers.
I first became acquainted with the music of Summers in 1983 at the age of 10 in a Catholic elementary school classroom when I heard a hypnotic and futuristic-sounding pop/rock song emanating from the radio of Candy, my substitute teacher. When I asked what the song was and who recorded it, I was promptly informed that it was “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. I was instantly hooked, so much so that that Christmas, my parents got me a vinyl copy of Synchronicity, The Police’s fifth and final studio album and one of the biggest hits of the year. The Police have since remained my favorite rock band of all time.
Summers was the guitarist for the mega-popular group, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reunited for a 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and 2008. Being a good decade older than his bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland, Summers began his professional recording career in the early 1960s, playing for Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (which later became the psychedelic but short-lived Dantalian’s Chariot), Eric Burdon’s New Animals, and Soft Machine. After formally studying guitar at Northridge University in California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Summers returned to England and plied his trade as a session guitarist for Joan Armatrading, Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord before achieving monumental success and international stardom with The Police.
After the dissolution of The Police in the early 1980s, Summers scored some Hollywood films (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Weekend at Bernie’s) and recorded one rock vocal album before establishing himself as an acclaimed and accomplished contemporary instrumental guitarist across a variety of styles, including jazz, fusion, New Age, and world music.
I was privileged to interview Summers by telephone in Fall 2000 for the January 2001 issue of DirecTV: The Guide. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Summers posted a notice of the interview in the news section of his Web site. Later, I met Summers in person during his book tour in Fall 2006, just a few months before The Police reunited for a 30th anniversary reunion tour, which I was fortunate to attend twice in August of 2007 and 2008.
One of Summers' upcoming projects is Spirit Garden, a collection of guitar duets featuring Summers and classical guitarist Andrew York. In addition to acoustic and electric guitars, Summers and York also play other instruments. The duo’s collaboration began on the title track of York’s latest album, Centerpeace, which is available now. More information on Centerpeace and Spirit Garden can be found at www.andrewyork.net.
For a good overview of Summers’ solo work, I highly recommend the following albums: Mysterious Barricades, A Windham Hill Retrospective, Synaesthesia, and The X Tracks. My personal favorite Summers albums are Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange, Synaesthesia, Earth and Sky, and First You Build a Cloud.
--Raj Manoharan
I first became acquainted with the music of Summers in 1983 at the age of 10 in a Catholic elementary school classroom when I heard a hypnotic and futuristic-sounding pop/rock song emanating from the radio of Candy, my substitute teacher. When I asked what the song was and who recorded it, I was promptly informed that it was “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. I was instantly hooked, so much so that that Christmas, my parents got me a vinyl copy of Synchronicity, The Police’s fifth and final studio album and one of the biggest hits of the year. The Police have since remained my favorite rock band of all time.
Summers was the guitarist for the mega-popular group, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reunited for a 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and 2008. Being a good decade older than his bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland, Summers began his professional recording career in the early 1960s, playing for Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (which later became the psychedelic but short-lived Dantalian’s Chariot), Eric Burdon’s New Animals, and Soft Machine. After formally studying guitar at Northridge University in California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Summers returned to England and plied his trade as a session guitarist for Joan Armatrading, Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord before achieving monumental success and international stardom with The Police.
After the dissolution of The Police in the early 1980s, Summers scored some Hollywood films (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Weekend at Bernie’s) and recorded one rock vocal album before establishing himself as an acclaimed and accomplished contemporary instrumental guitarist across a variety of styles, including jazz, fusion, New Age, and world music.
I was privileged to interview Summers by telephone in Fall 2000 for the January 2001 issue of DirecTV: The Guide. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Summers posted a notice of the interview in the news section of his Web site. Later, I met Summers in person during his book tour in Fall 2006, just a few months before The Police reunited for a 30th anniversary reunion tour, which I was fortunate to attend twice in August of 2007 and 2008.
One of Summers' upcoming projects is Spirit Garden, a collection of guitar duets featuring Summers and classical guitarist Andrew York. In addition to acoustic and electric guitars, Summers and York also play other instruments. The duo’s collaboration began on the title track of York’s latest album, Centerpeace, which is available now. More information on Centerpeace and Spirit Garden can be found at www.andrewyork.net.
For a good overview of Summers’ solo work, I highly recommend the following albums: Mysterious Barricades, A Windham Hill Retrospective, Synaesthesia, and The X Tracks. My personal favorite Summers albums are Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange, Synaesthesia, Earth and Sky, and First You Build a Cloud.
--Raj Manoharan
Friday, December 30, 2011
TV – Starsky & Hutch Ride Again on RTV
UPDATE: Okay, so the main theme by Mark Snow (T.J. Hooker, The X-Files) for the third season currently running on RTV is not as catchy as Tom Scott’s funky second-season theme and doesn’t mesh well with the slightly revamped, still hilarious opening credits (with new freeze frames for Paul Michael Glaser and Bernie Hamilton, the latter of whom looks cool this time speaking into a squad car CB radio on location). But the show is just as entertaining to watch, with a solid cast and a nice balance of action, comedy, and drama. And hang in there, true believers, because Tom Scott’s “Gotcha” theme apparently returns for the fourth and final season. Even though it was only used in two nonconsecutive seasons, it is considered the official Starsky & Hutch theme (just do a search of ringtones if you don’t believe me).
ORIGINAL POST: The 1970s TV cop duo is cleaning the boob tube (or LCD or plasma set) of crime at 8:00 p.m. weeknights on RTV (Retro Television Network), and it’s quite the “trip” down memory lane.
The funky second-season theme by Tom Scott is both catchy and cheeky and complements the hilarious opening credits much better than Lalo Schifrin’s grim, downbeat, first-season theme.
And hilarious the opening credits are, because, although the show is called Starsky & Hutch, the guy who plays Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and drives the flashy red and white-striped Ford Gran Torino is the second actor listed. David Soul (Hutch) gets top billing, and over a freeze frame of him yelling and flailing his arms maniacally.
Antonio Fargas, who plays nightclub-owning street informant Huggy Bear, gets special standout billing (“and Antonio Fargas as Huggy Bear”). But then, all of a sudden, the credits list Bernie Hamilton (the irascible but lovable Captain Dobey). That’s it – just Bernie Hamilton. It’s like the credits are saying, “…and Antonio Fargas as Huggy Bear – oh, by the way, Bernie Hamilton.”
There’s more to the show than just the hilarious opening credits and wacky main theme, and certainly much more than the insipid, shallow, and unworthy big-screen Starsky & Hutch parody starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Stiller and Wilson may be funny (not really), but they’re no David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser. Soul and Glaser are solid actors with great screen chemistry, and Glaser is a better and more accomplished film and television director.
Even if you’re not into TV cop shows or don’t particularly care for Starsky & Hutch, at least just check out the opening credits and main theme of the current rotation of episodes on RTV. It’s one of the more entertaining highlights of classic 1970s television.
--Raj Manoharan
ORIGINAL POST: The 1970s TV cop duo is cleaning the boob tube (or LCD or plasma set) of crime at 8:00 p.m. weeknights on RTV (Retro Television Network), and it’s quite the “trip” down memory lane.
The funky second-season theme by Tom Scott is both catchy and cheeky and complements the hilarious opening credits much better than Lalo Schifrin’s grim, downbeat, first-season theme.
And hilarious the opening credits are, because, although the show is called Starsky & Hutch, the guy who plays Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and drives the flashy red and white-striped Ford Gran Torino is the second actor listed. David Soul (Hutch) gets top billing, and over a freeze frame of him yelling and flailing his arms maniacally.
Antonio Fargas, who plays nightclub-owning street informant Huggy Bear, gets special standout billing (“and Antonio Fargas as Huggy Bear”). But then, all of a sudden, the credits list Bernie Hamilton (the irascible but lovable Captain Dobey). That’s it – just Bernie Hamilton. It’s like the credits are saying, “…and Antonio Fargas as Huggy Bear – oh, by the way, Bernie Hamilton.”
There’s more to the show than just the hilarious opening credits and wacky main theme, and certainly much more than the insipid, shallow, and unworthy big-screen Starsky & Hutch parody starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Stiller and Wilson may be funny (not really), but they’re no David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser. Soul and Glaser are solid actors with great screen chemistry, and Glaser is a better and more accomplished film and television director.
Even if you’re not into TV cop shows or don’t particularly care for Starsky & Hutch, at least just check out the opening credits and main theme of the current rotation of episodes on RTV. It’s one of the more entertaining highlights of classic 1970s television.
--Raj Manoharan
Sunday, December 25, 2011
CD Review – 12.25, by Kyle Pederson
The title says it all. Those two numbers are the crux of Christmas and the crux of pianist Kyle Pederson’s new holiday offering, which is as simple in its focus as the CD’s name.
Pederson presents his take on eleven seasonal tunes, many of them famous and some not so. Yet all are warm and welcoming as performed by Pederson, who plays the songs without accompaniment, and to great effect.
The artist masterfully accompanies himself with a virtuosic technique in which he plays melodies and chords with such ambidextrous deftness that it sounds like two or three pianists are playing at the same time. Because of this, the songs never fail to enrapture and captivate.
Another great aspect of the album is that while the songs are all recognizable as yuletide classics, Pederson injects enough creativity and uniqueness into his arrangements that they sound like original compositions.
As a result of this fresh approach that breathes new life into these classics while still retaining their familiarity, Kyle Pederson’s musical gift can be enjoyed not only on 12.25, but all year long.
--Raj Manoharan
Pederson presents his take on eleven seasonal tunes, many of them famous and some not so. Yet all are warm and welcoming as performed by Pederson, who plays the songs without accompaniment, and to great effect.
The artist masterfully accompanies himself with a virtuosic technique in which he plays melodies and chords with such ambidextrous deftness that it sounds like two or three pianists are playing at the same time. Because of this, the songs never fail to enrapture and captivate.
Another great aspect of the album is that while the songs are all recognizable as yuletide classics, Pederson injects enough creativity and uniqueness into his arrangements that they sound like original compositions.
As a result of this fresh approach that breathes new life into these classics while still retaining their familiarity, Kyle Pederson’s musical gift can be enjoyed not only on 12.25, but all year long.
--Raj Manoharan
Sunday, December 18, 2011
CD Review – The Keys of Christmas, by Louis Colaiannia
Composer and keyboardist Louis Colaiannia brings his unique take to the music of the holidays on this collection of traditional and original tunes.
The CD contains Colaiannia’s interpretation of Christmas classics “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “O Tannenbaum,” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.” The rest of the disc features mostly brand-new tracks, with a couple of originals from previous albums.
All the songs, both old and new, are laced with Colaiannia’s signature style. He truly has a sound all his own that doesn’t sound like any of his peers. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what that sound is because it’s so different that it’s indescribable. The best I can venture is that both his playing and his composing style are stately and elegant while simultaneously very quirky. The result is an invigorating and exotic musical alchemy.
Colaiannia is supported by a solid lineup of musicians on guitar, drums, horns, and other instruments. They are a tight band, ably augmenting his musical vision.
The familiarity and freshness of the music makes this a worthwhile addition to the Christmas CD catalog.
--Raj Manoharan
The CD contains Colaiannia’s interpretation of Christmas classics “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “O Tannenbaum,” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.” The rest of the disc features mostly brand-new tracks, with a couple of originals from previous albums.
All the songs, both old and new, are laced with Colaiannia’s signature style. He truly has a sound all his own that doesn’t sound like any of his peers. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what that sound is because it’s so different that it’s indescribable. The best I can venture is that both his playing and his composing style are stately and elegant while simultaneously very quirky. The result is an invigorating and exotic musical alchemy.
Colaiannia is supported by a solid lineup of musicians on guitar, drums, horns, and other instruments. They are a tight band, ably augmenting his musical vision.
The familiarity and freshness of the music makes this a worthwhile addition to the Christmas CD catalog.
--Raj Manoharan
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