David Benoit “Heroes” album reviewed at SmoothViews August 2, 2008

In the August issue of “SmoothViews,” one month after interviewing David Benoit, Bonnie Schendell reviews his latest album, “Heroes.”  As I said in my July 1 post about the interview, I reviewed the album back on May 29, two days after it was released.

Here’s the first paragraph of Bonnie’s review:

When it comes to long careers in this business, David Benoit is at the top of the heap.  For over 30 years, this pianist has put out so much music, it’s almost impossible to listen to a radio station and not hear something of his every hour.  His music has run the gamut from smooth jazz, fusion, and pop to orchestral, Charlie Brown, and now a tribute to the music and artists that most influenced David throughout his life.  The end result is Heroes, an eleven track CD, with one original track,that offers up innovative, almost totally acoustic, approaches to songs that we all have known and loved for years.  David brings this all to life with his regular touring band:  Jamey Tate (drums), David Hughes (bass), Brad Dutz (percussion), and special guest, Andy Suzuki (sax).

Spyro Gyra Smooth Cruise recap July 31, 2008

Last night, I was aboard the Spirit of New York‘s sunset cruise (6:30 PM) out of Chelsea Piers (Pier 61) in New York, New York, which featured the weekly Smooth Cruise.

The cruise route took us down the Hudson River, through New York Harbor, up the East River, and back.

This week, the performers were Spyro Gyra.

The set list was as follows:
1. Jam Up
2. Simple Pleasures
3. Get Busy
4. Early song medley I: Shaker Song
5. Early song medley II: Catching The Sun
6. Early song medley III: Morning Dance
7. Scott Ambush bass solo/Island Time
8. Bonny B. drum solo/Funkyard Dog

Outside of Dharma All Stars and Natural Selection (saxophonist Mario Cruz’s band) gigs, I have never been as close to the band while they’re playing as I was last night.  Before I took pictures of them, I went out to the bow of the ship.  These are the pictures that stood out:

Ellis Island:

Lower Manhattan skyline:

The Statue of Liberty:

Now, to the band.

On the alto and soprano saxophones, Jay Beckenstein:

I was eating my buffet dinner, and then out on the bow, when Jay was on soprano sax on “Simple Pleasures” and “Get Busy,” but here he is on both alto and soprano on “Funkyard Dog”:

On keyboards, Tom Schuman:

Scott Ambush on bass:

Julio Fernandez on guitar and vocals:

And on drums and vocals, Bonny B.!

Letting out a laugh:

Asking the passengers a question in slow motion (on the third attempt):

The answer was a loud “Yeah!!!”

In the span of a week, I got to see two phenomenal drummers (John Favicchia last Thursday).

The band stands together and waves at the end:

My apologies to Tom for only having a shot where he blinked.  The following picture taken afterward with me makes up for it:

Despite some personal moments early on where I felt overwhelmed (oh, that Asperger Syndrome)–such as indecision on whether to sit in one of the rows of chairs or at a table (settled on a table), not realizing the ticket to the buffet was only good one time (that worked out in the end, too)–I had a great time.  And Spyro Gyra always makes for a great time.

8/1 UPDATE: Here are some additional pictures from the cruise.  The first two were taken while waiting to board.

The early evening sun behind the clouds:

A wider sky shot:

And on the way back, the Empire State Building:

8/9 UPDATE: Kat Sarracco was aboard the 9:30 cruise.  She also took pictures.  For those of you on MySpace (account required), here are additional pictures.

Dharma All Stars gig recap July 27, 2008

Thursday night, for the first time in 15 months, I went to see John Favicchia’s Dharma All Stars perform.  The venue was Mirelle’s Restaurant in Westbury, New York.

On this night, the band consisted of:

John Favicchia, of course, on drums…

Chieli Minucci on guitar…

Mike Nunno (“NU-no”) on bass…

I lowered the brightness on Mike’s sheet music cover.

Carl Fischer on trumpet…

…and flugelhorn…

Bill Harris on tenor saxophone…

…and Bill Heller on keyboard.

The set list for the night was:
1. Horizons
2. Te estremeces
3. Coincidence
4. Sing a Song of Song (Kenny Garrett cover)
5. Kukuc (“KOO-kooch”)
BREAK
6. Black (Cedar Walton cover)
7. Snakes (David Sanborn cover)

It was a great night of music and great to see the band perform again.

Ken Navarro, “The Grace of Summer Light” July 13, 2008

Almost four weeks ago, Ken Navarro’s 18th album, “The Grace of Summer Light” was officially released.  It has been available since May 1 on his website.  I pre-ordered the album back in February and was fortunate enough to hear the demo version of the title track back in late December.

As I documented back in April, Ken gave me my pre-ordered copy of “Grace” in the lobby of the Hampton Inn Milford [Connecticut] a few hours before this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert.  And as I further documented, I listened to the first six tracks while waiting for my dinner to be delivered from a nearby restaurant.  I listened to the remaining four tracks the following day (April 27) once I had returned home.  In a thread on The Magic Island BBS the day after that (April 28), I complimented Ken on the album:

… I can’t get enough of [the album].  You’ve created a masterpiece, Ken.  Thank you very much.

2 1/2 months later, I stand by that evaluation.  “The Grace of Summer Light” just gets better and better every time I listen to it.  Here are the tracks on the album:

1. Just Before The Dawn (prelude) (:28 )
2. Blue Skies, Bright Dreams (6:08 )
I mixed tracks 1 and 2 together in Adobe Audition 3.  They’re heard best together rather than separate.
3. The Grace of Summer Light (7:51)
4. On My Way To Somewhere (9:16)
5. Perfect Circle Sun (4:10 )
6. Daddy-O (6:50 )
7. Nomad (8:05)
8. Looking Everywhere For You (5:48 )
9. We Might As Well Dance (6:11)
10. Just Before The Dawn (2:18 )

A few days before “The Grace of Summer Light” was released officially, Ken recorded a podcast chronicling how the album was made and what inspired each track.  It is available here and on iTunes.  Also, Shannon West reviewed the album for SmoothViews in last month’s edition.

Thank you again, Ken on all your guitars and the additional keyboards and percussion; and thank you to Jay Rowe on the main keyboards; Tom Kennedy (no relation to the game show host and brother of Jack Narz) on acoustic, electric, and fretless bass; Joel Rosenblatt on drums; and Kevin Prince on percussion.  “The Grace of Summer Light” really is a masterpiece and to those that haven’t heard it yet, it’s a musical journey worth taking.

Pre-order update #5 July 10, 2008

The last of the CDs I pre-ordered in May arrived today:
Nick Colionne, “No Limits” (Koch)

I’ve only listened to the first track, the title track, so far.  If it’s any indication, this is going to be a great album.  I’ll try to have a review once I’ve finished listening.  I also need to post a review of Ken Navarro’s “The Grace of Summer Light.”  In the meantime, I now have all the CDs I pre-ordered on May 10, two months to the date (July 10) later.

7/11 UPDATE: The instrumental tracks are great.  I cannot post a full review because I haven’t listened to the vocal tracks (outside of “Melting Into You”), which I generally don’t prefer listening to.  Therefore, it would be unfair to review only 10 tracks out of 13.  But I do like “No Limits” and do recommend it.

Pre-order update #4 June 24, 2008

Today, I received three CDs I had pre-ordered weeks ago in the mail:
The Jeff Lorber Fusion, “Soft Space” (reissue)
Eric Darius, “Goin’ All Out”
Gerald Albright, “Sax for Stax”

As with “The Jeff Lorber Fusion,” the “Soft Space” reissue sounds much better than its LP counterpart.  I have yet to listen to the other two CDs in their entirety.  I’ll get around to them after “Soft Space.”

The Dan Siegel Project, “Fables” June 23, 2008

Two Mondays ago, I ordered The Dan Siegel Project’s new album “Fables.”  I received it in the mail five days later.  The album is a rearrangement of songs Dan recorded in the mid-1980s, plus two new compositions.  Here are the tracks:

1. Dark Star (4:29)
2. Concrete Jungle (4:51)
3. Fugitives (3:19)
4. A Day In The Country (4:06)
5. Celestial Body (5:45)
6. Behind The Shadow (2:24)
7. Before You Wake (3:55)
8. The Last Waltz (4:12)
9. Peace Of Mind (2:48 )
10. Where Are You Now (4:15)
11. Solitary (2:56)
12. Little Creek (4:28 )
13. Star Light (3:36)

Tracks 1, 5, 10, and 12 were “reimagined from” Another Time, Another Place in 1984.
Tracks 7 and 8 were “reimagined from” On The Edge in 1985.
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 11, and 13 were “reimagined from” Short Stories in 1986.
Tracks 6 and 9 were new compositions.
All tracks were written by Dan.

The album personnel was:
Dan Siegel: keyboards, melodica
Michael Lington: saxophone
Tony Guerrero: trumpet, peck horn
Pedro Eustache: flutes, duduk, various winds
Adam Glasser: harmonica
Michael Miller: guitar
Allen Hinds: guitar
Abraham Laboriel: bass
Alex Galas: bouzouki
Aloke Dasgupta: sitar
Paul Livingstone: sitar
Charlie Bisharat: violin
John Riley: oboe, piccolo, bass clarinet
Nadia Freeman: vocals

“Fables” has the same feel as Dan’s “Hemispheres” album in 1995.

My favorite tracks so far are “Concrete Jungle,” “A Day In The Country,” “Celestial Body,” “The Last Waltz,” and “Where Are You Now.”

Acoustic Alchemy at IMAC tomorrow June 20, 2008

I’ll be going back to IMAC tomorrow night to see Acoustic Alchemy in concert.  To prepare, I’ll be spending the next two days listening to many of their songs.  This way (hey, that’s their latest album title), I can identify what’s played.

Either tomorrow night or Sunday, I’ll have a recap of the concert, complete with any pictures I take.