Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 12
 Taking Jazz to a different place... music for you soul! June 18, 2008
John R. Grimshaw
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
All of Brian Blades Fellowship albums (this is the third) are excellent! The compositions are from the heart and soul of the writer's and the players bring life to them with pieces of their own hearts and souls. This is not the same old bebop variations that you hear from Wynton and his followers. This is new music, that's rather difficult to pigeonhole. It's definitely jazz, though. There is great improvising, there is a great flow within the whole group. They obviously love to play this music, and they obviously love to play together. They have a definite group sound, and the compositions are not just platforms for solos, they are complex conceptual pieces that sound simple. That's a difficult thing to pull off and they do it masterfully. Be sure and listen to it several times before you decide if you like it. It grows on you, and soon you'll be carrying it with you everywhere you go, just like I do!
The Wait is Over July 6, 2008
Michelle A. Jenkins (Atlanta, GA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have been checking and looking and waiting since Perceptual. In fact Perceptual is always in my rotation. The new CD Season of Changes has allowed Perceptual to rest (briefly). Contrary to it's title Blade and The Fellowship Band have not let up on making an audio experience visual. This groups sound makes you envision a place, a time or a person that you may or may not know. The sound is also atmosphere of intensity. When you hear them play, you feel them, you feel him. Absolutely outstanding from beginning to end and you will not put it down until his next CD (then you'll pick it back up again and again).
Thanks Brian for some of Kurt's most enjoyable playing August 7, 2008
eliot gardenstreet (Phoenix, AZ)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I just played this cd after listening to Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar, co-produced by John Scofield, and I was struck by how Kurt Rosenwinkel's playing with the Brian Blade Fellowship sounds better to me than the playing of most of the greats of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. So many of these guys sound tense, as if they're trying to prove something. I like virtuosity as well the next man, but I like it most when a player's skill gives him the confidence to relax and get into a tune. Kurt's playing on this album displays that rare combination of flawless technique and a big heart. In fact these are my favorite KR tracks since Heartcore. Melvin Butler's tenor playing and Chris Thomas's bass playing are unusually soulful too. Thanks Brian for a great album.
 Nice But Not The Cat's Meow September 13, 2008
G
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was captivated by the reviews so I acquired this and have now listened to this a few times. This collection does have virtues. Primarily, Kurt Rosenwinkel's guitar is interesting and innovative, and the textures - pipe organ, bass clarinet, etc. - give this band a different and refreshing sound at times.
Still, I am not blown away and upon repeated listenings bored rather than enthralled. The main draw back is that I just don't find the compositions to be that interesting. Many are in this somber/pastoral kind of vein but more somber than pastoral and I just don't find that they provide interesting canvases for the soloists. Many leave Brian Blade almost too far in the background - democratically supporting compositons rather than stepping out. Also, the textural variations from electric stuff to more acoustic based stuff, while a neat concept, somehow come across to me as disjointed as a lisening experience. The CD as a whole does not flow for me.
Speaking of textures, I have always loved the tonality of the bass clarinet. But I would advocate Eric Dolphy or Don Byron. And again, Kurt Rosenwinkel is an interesting and innovative guitarist. I would check him out in other contexts - if I am not mistaken Paul Motian's Garden of Eden Band. Now there's one that merits 5 stars!
This IS an interesting CD and a neat group of musicians. The five stars just don't shine for me.
Fantastic May 27, 2008
S. Lee (California)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Brian Blade's group marries the thematic approach of great pop albums with the spontaneity and improvisation of jazz. The music is well written and thoughtful. The album has been in my CD carousel since it arrived. Enough said...
|
