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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
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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
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