Category Archives: Reviews

CD Review: Daniel Bennett Group (NY) “We Are the Orchestra”

Daniel Bennett GroupArtist: The David Bennett Group
Title: We Are the Orchestra
Label: self produced
Genre: Avant-Pop with a blend of Jazz, Folk and Classical

Review by Dawoud Kringle

Daniel Bennett had an idea. Most large groups try to distill their effect into a smaller sound. Bennett (Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Oboe, Piano, Percussion) wanted to take something small and expand it into something large. Enlisting the partnership of Mark Cocheo (Electric Guitar, Banjo, Acoustic Guitar, Nylon String Guitar), they layered the sounds of their instruments to create the effect and feel of an orchestra.

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Genetic druGs

CD Review: Genetic druGs w. Short Wave “Worldradio” Sounds

Genetic drugsArtist: Genetic druGs
Title: Worldradio (short wave radio surfing 1984-1999)
Label: Pharma Tunes (Germany)
Genre: Worldmusic – Downtempo – Electronica – Original Soundtrack

Listen here:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/worldradio-shorte-wave-radio-surfing-1984-1999-original/1426544737

Review by Dawoud Kringle

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Oytun Ersan

CD Review: Oytun Ersan “Fusiolicious”

Oytun ErsanArtist: Oytun Ersan
Title: Fusiolicious
Label: Self-Produced
Genre: Funk-heavy Jazz Fusion
CD available on: CDBaby, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, Google Music Store, and major streaming sites.

Review by Fiona Mactaggart

In all seriousness, fasten your seatbelts for bassist Oytun Ersan’s high energy, sometimes Zappa-reminiscent, funk-heavy jazz fusion new release Fusiolicious. It’s a blast, and you may need a lie down after.

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CD Review: Sam Bevan “Emergence”

Sam Beavan Artist: Sam Bevan
Title: Emergence
Label: Self-produced
Genre: Jazz
Buy from: CDBaby, iTunes, sambevan.bandcamp.com (release date August 2018)

Review by Fiona Mactaggart

The free-flowing fluency of bass player Sam Bevan’s music is remarkable given the complexity of his compositions, and speaks of his wide-ranging musical background and the quality of the musicians he has chosen for this, his fourth CD release as leader. The buoyant feel, the numerous cheerful melodies, the asymmetries and quirky changes, and the confident organizational and rhythmic clarity offered by Bevan’s bass, makes this a standout jazz release of this year.

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CD Review: Two Hands To Tango, by Hakon Skogstad (Norway)

Hakon SkogstadArtist: Hakon Skogstad
Title: Two Hands To Tango
Label: Avantango Records
Genre: Tango/Latin

CD review, by Fiona Mactaggart

Based in Trondheim, Norway, Hakon Skogstad is a pianist specializing in Western classical and Argentine tango. His May 2018 solo piano release, Two Hands To Tango, proves that neither relative youth nor living a great distance from the home of tango, need impede the production of a careful and sensitive tribute to Argentine tango and to the Argentine concertina, the bandoneon, which contributes so much to tango’s distinctive sound.

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