As He Now Appears by Elliot

As He Now Appears is the instrumental debut album by Elliot Nelson, a British born instrumental solo artist, composer, and producer from the north of England released on August 7, 2020.  Elliot is the son of Be-box Deluxe frontman Bill Nelson and on this album, he brings to this album a mixture of various music genres from electronic, jazz, ambient classical, and experimental rock.  This eleven-song album features such great tracks as the title track As He Now Appears, The Ethereal Balloon, God’s Pythons, From The Blonde To The Beast and so much more.  I was impressed with the performance on this album as well as the brilliant songwriting talent and a superb recording.  This is an artist I am looking forward to hearing more from in the future.  This amazing release is available on digital download from Bandcamp and other music outlets.

 

Jesus Of New Orleans by Jack Spann

It is not very often that I will review a single due to time restraints, but when I heard the single Jesus Of New Orleans by Jack Spann, I was motivated to write this.  This is my fourth review for this amazing artist and I was totally honored for the opportunity to take an advance to listen to this song which was released on August 15, 2020 (my birthday) through Big Boo Records and Daystorm Music.  Both dance mix and radio edits are included on the CD. Jack Spann is again providing lead vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar, and bass with Cecil Robbington on drums and percussion. A supporting cast of guest musicians includes long time friend and St. Louis native John Covelli on trombone.  I was quite impressed with this song as well as the video that was done for this song with a great dance track and a bit of humor on how it was done.  I feel that this song should do well in the dance clubs.  This song has a great mixture of disco and jazz.  Check out the video on https://youtu.be/-ltcUi90DuQ and get both CD and Digital formats of this awesome song through Big Boo Records and Daystorm Music.

Ready To Strike by Rapazzi

This morning’s listen is a sound I have not heard before.  You take some rock and mix it with jazz, Celtic, and some Johnny Cash threw in and you get the 26 April 2016 album Ready to Strike by Brazilian composer/producer, an American lyricist, and seasoned vocalists living in Mexico called Rapazzi.  This seventeen track album features such tracks as Feather In the Wind, For The Child, State Of The Union, When A Giggles Run Too Deep, Snake In The Grass, Gone Missing, and much more.  In addition to an interesting performance, there is an excellent songwriting and superb recording.  With this different mixture, you need to check out this album to see if it is your cup of tea.  This release is available on CD and digital download from Starburst Records, Amazon, Apple Music, and all other music retailers.

Truth by Mrs. Fun

Truth is the 2018 release by Mrs. Fun, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin acid jazz/free jazz duo composed of keyboard player Connie Grauer who is also playing bass and vocals, and drummer Kim Zick on the Fun Time Records label.  This thirteen track album features a great jazz sound that has a little funk thrown in on such tracks as Process is the Purpose, Soulful Strut, their take on The Doors classic Light My Fire, Orange Grove, Let Me Live My Lie and so much more.  I was impressed with the performance with all of this music coming out of just two people.  There was also great songwriting and an excellent recording.  After hearing this album, I want to hear their earlier work.  To get your copy of this album, check out their other work and learn more about this band, please go to their official website http://mrsfun.com/

Invisible by Nick D’Virgilio (NDV)

Invisible” is the second solo album by California born but Indiana based drummer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Nick D’Virgilio (NDV) and comes almost two decades after his debut solo offering.  The lineup on this release features Nick D’Virgilio on drums, loops, and vocals, Jonas Reingold on bass, Randy McStine on guitars, Jordan Rudess on piano & synths, and Nick D’Virgilio, Kat Bower, Beth Cohen, Nathan Heironimus, Sophia D’ Virgilio on background vocals.   This fourteen track album scheduled for release on June 26, 2020 collection of songs that make up the story of a man who is unhappy with where his life has ended up.  Listening to this album I hear a mixture of classical, progressive rock, jazz and with a little funk thrown in with such great tracks as Turn Your Life Around, Money (That’s What I Want), Mercy, Overcome, Wrong Place Wrong Time and so much more.  This release features an amazing performance, great songwriting, and a superb recording.  This is an album I would highly recommend to your music library which is available on Vinyl, CD, and digital download from his website https://www.nickdvirgilio.com/ and many other music outlets.   This is definitely an album I would love to own on vinyl.

Chicagovich and Chicagovich II by Leonid & Friends

Some time back a friend turned me onto a band out of Moscow, Russia that is a perfect Chicago tribute band called Leonid & Friends consisting Leonid Vorobyev on vocals, piano, and bass, Vasily Akimov on vocals, Igor Javad-Zade on drums, Sergey Kashirin on guitar and vocals, Andrey Zyl on trumpet and flugelhorn, Maxim Likhachev on trombone, Oleg Kudryavtsev on saxophone, Vlad Senchillo on keyboards and backing vocal, Serge Tiagniryadno on vocals and guitar, Ksenia Buzina on backing vocals, and Vladimir Popov on flute, saxophone, and percussion.  After checking out several of their videos on the youtube channel, I wanted to contact them and today they sent me two CDs Chicagovich and Chicagovich II which are performances of famous Chicago tracks through the years.  If you close your eyes and listen you can’t tell Leonid & Friends from the band Chicago in their playing and vocals.  These two albums feature such great tracks as 25 to 6 to 4, Make Me Smile, Beginnings, Street Player, Saturday In The Park, Color My World, Hard To Say I’m Sorry and so much more.  In addition to a great performance on this album, this also features a superb recording.  After seeing their live concert video that was performed at the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida, I just go to see this band live myself and enjoy their excellent music which features their tribute to such bands as Chicago, Earth Wind & Fire, and Blood Sweat And Tears.  You really need to check out this band on youtube as well as go their official website http://leonidandfriends.band/ where you can learn about the band, their music, and future touring schedule.  In closing, I want to thank this band for taking the time to send me their music. To purchase the video go to https://imediatv.net/product/jacksonville-fl-concert/.  To buy the CDs go to https://imediatv.net/product/leonid-friends-chicagovich/ and https://imediatv.net/product/leonid-and-friends-chicagovich-ii-cd/

Visions by Orpheus

Visions is the November 16, 2019 album by Orpheus which is a  beautiful, bewitching, viby brew of acoustic & electronic elements, featuring lush, soulful vocal textures and elegant melodies featuring the talents of Jarrod Lawson on all instruments and programming along with some guest artists on a few tracks.  This twelve track album on orange colored vinyl features such great songs as Arrival, Follow Me, Phantasmagoria, the title track Visions, Sea of Serenity, Reflection and so much more.  This release was well written, performed, and features a superb recording and production plus is available on Vinyl, CD, and digital download from Apple Music, Bandcamp, Izipho Soul Record, and many other retail outlets. I am looking forward to hearing more from this artist.  To find out more about this artist go to his Bandcamp page https://jlawson.bandcamp.com/

Eyes Wide Open by David Sancious

Eyes Wide Open is the tenth album by world-renowned performing and recording artist David Sancious, who was an original keyboardist of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band released March 10, 2020, on the Not By Sight Records Inc. This release features eight energetic compositions feature dynamic performances by legendary names such as premier drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, Living Colour’s Will Calhoun (drums), and Prince alumni Michael Bland (drums).  This album showcases a balanced mix of four vocal and four instrumental compositions such as the title track Eyes Wide Open, In The Middle Of The Night, The Treehouse, War In Heaven and much more.   This eight-track album was well written, as well as performed and recorded and is available from Amazon, Apple Music, and all other music retailers.

Vegas Blue by The Brian Tarquin Project

Multi-Emmy award-winning guitarist/producer/composer Brian Tarquin presents Vegas Blue, an album that is scheduled for release on March 27, 2020, from the Guitar Trax Records label.  This eleven-track album is in memory to the tragedy that occurred October 17, 2017, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada and features the guest performances of Steve Morse, Trey Gunn, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Phil Naro, Hal Lindes, Tony Carey and many others.  This album is a perfect mix of blues, rock and a little bit of jazz with such great tracks as Lights Of Las Vegas, Tomorrow’s Another Day, the title track Vegas Blue, Evil In Men’s Hearts and much more.  I was moved by the performance on this album as well as how it was written and recorded.  This is an album I would highly recommend adding to one’s music library which is available on CD and digital download from Amazon, Apple Music, and many other music outlets.  I want to thank Billy at Glass Onyon PR for sending this amazing album

Destinations by Darryl Way

Destinations is the new studio album by Darryl Way,  the co-founder of Curved Air, a trailblazing rock violinist, and composer and features ten new rock instrumentals, with a variety of influences and sound effects enriching the style and delivery of the pieces.  On this ten-track album that was released February 20, 2020, on the Right Honourable Records label, Darryl introduces himself as a guitarist as well as performing in his more familiar role as a violinist with a mixture of progressive rock and jazz on such tracks as Metropolis, A Rainy Day in Vienna, Rivieria Blue, Freedom Road and so much more.  I was quite impressed with the performance on this album as well as his songwriting and the recording.  This album is available on CD and digital download from Amazon, Apple Music, Discogs, and many other music outlets.  You can learn more about this artist, his music and much more by going to his official website http://www.darrylway.com  In closing, I want to thank Billy at Glass Onyon PR for sending me the digital download copy of this album.