Benny Reid - Escaping Shadows '2009

Tracks list

Tracklist:

[5:13] 01. Benny Reid - The Final Chapter
[4:13] 02. Benny Reid - Five Years Later
[5:20] 03. Benny Reid - Sleeping Beauty
[4:57] 04. Benny Reid - Facing The Edge
[5:29] 05. Benny Reid - New Days
[8:05] 06. Benny Reid - The Most Beautiful Girl I Ever Knew
[6:19] 07. Benny Reid - Firelight
[6:45] 08. Benny Reid - Cutting
[3:18] 09. Benny Reid - Always And Forever
[8:56] 10. Benny Reid - Escaping Shadows

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ABOUT THE ALBUM
1 disc(s) - 10 track(s)
Total length: 00:58:27
Main artist: Benny Reid
Composer: Various Composers
Label: Concord Jazz
Genre: Jazz
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo
© 2009 Concord Music Group Inc.
â„— 2009 Concord Music Group Inc.


Young alto saxophonist Benny Reid offers a peculiar mix of contemporary jazz
flavored by throwback fusion elements on this, his second major-label effort.
Synthesizers and unbalanced dynamics overwhelm or underscore his otherwise
pleasant and literate horn, while this batch of originals pays no small homage
to the late-70s music of Pat Metheny. Singsong melodies, the wordless vocals of
Jeff Taylor on five tracks (sounding very much like Mark Ledford or Mark
Winkler), plus the acoustic and electric guitar of Richard Padron distracts from
what otherwise could be catchy music. Theres little need to sweeten the pot with
accompaniment that is unnecessary at best, and unappealing at worst. Perhaps
producer Chris Dunn can be directly blamed for the music choices and
accompaniment Reid was coerced into. The opening number, strangely, is The Final
Chapter, but alludes to the rest of the albums added-on layers that take away
from Reids tuneful playing. New Days provides a firmer lyricism, with Methenys
Always & Forever sporting a better balance in lower mezzo piano volume levels,
while the straight funk of Five Years Later more certainly echoes the skyscraper
approach of Metheny. Padrons electric guitar is simply too loud, rubbing the
music the wrong way as he clashes against the softer tones of Firelight until it
eventually speeds up to a fast road song mode. The clashing of snaky lines
versus a tapped-out rhythm during Sleeping Beauty simply does not work well,
while the plodding rhythms of Cutting mismatches retro fusion and current-day
values, but not in a good way. New Days is a pensive waltz, but sounds dated,
and hardly updated or fresh, while swelling oceanic waves of sound dominate the
title track, enjoyable but copped. To its credit, thank goodness, this music
does not resort to the so-called smooth jazz wallpaper-cotton-candy formulaic
tripe. It seems Reid is standing directly in the shadows of his predecessors
rather than emerging from them. This is a disappointing recording, with only
hints of an urban or urbane style, from a clearly talented artist who should
make future inroads as he comes of age.
© Michael G. Nastos /TiVo


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