SEARCH |  |  |
| .. |
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER |  |
| ..

Bookmark Us! - Contact Us - Suggestion Box - Help Wanted - Advertise - Media Awards - Submit Your Link - Tell A Friend - For Contributors
MONTHLY GREETING Get Out GETTING STARTED Welcome to AAJ! New to Jazz? Building a Jazz Library History of Jazz Jazz Humor
Show All Titles About AAJ Showcase Star Hustler Will Sellenraad It Was A Very Good Year John Basile Changing Places Tord Gustavsen How's That? Mike Kaplan Nonet Chorale Simone Guiducci
Ali Ryerson & Joe Beck
| . |
Early Summer Sketch Bjorn Wennas Quartet | Beartones
Swedish-born, Boston-based jazz guitarist Bjorn Wennas' debut CD, Early Summer Sketch, starts out with a sizzle. "Off" is an uptempo jaunt with a memorable melody, stinging guitar chops, and crisp sax/guitar unison. Wennas' solo has a tang to it as it dances with his band's bubbling rhythm. The next cut, "Early Summer Sketch" slows things down, featuring some of the disc's best sax/guitar interplay in a brooding mood. Early Summer Sketch is touted as "contemporary jazz with a rock and pop sensibility." With "Mind Games," the sound goes perhaps too far in that "pop" direction with Carmen Marisco's wordless vocals over-sweetening the sound, in spite of a sharp sting of a guitar Wennas' guitar solo. "For Bjorn" bops along with Kristof Bacso's sax solo doing a contained burn in front of jouncing rhythm, leading into more inventive guitar licks by Wennas. The Wennas-penned closer, "Love Song," features lyrics from an e.e.cumming poem sung by Carmen Marisco. Marisco's voice is pleasant--and the assumption here is the projected appeal is more pop than jazz--but it doesn't add much to the mix. The set really needed not another ballad here, but something uptempo to close things out with some pop. A fine debut; a nicely interactive band with a definite future. ~ Dan McClenaghan
| Track Listing: Off, Early Summer Sketch, Mind Games, For Bjorn, Love Song Personnel: Bjorn Wennas, guitar; Carmen Marisco, vocals (tracks 3 & 5) Ziv Ravitz, drums; Jeff Denson, bass; Kristof Basco, saxes
Search For Another CD Review... Search by Artist Name, Record Label or Review Author
Contact Us - Help Wanted - Suggestion Box - Advertise - Submit Your Link - For Contributors

All material copyright © 1996-2003 All About Jazz and contributing writers. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy