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Snowpoet: Heartstrings
by Andrew Hunter
Snowpoet, led by the creative partnership of Lauren Kinsella and Chris Hyson has been releasing reliably engaging, curious music since 2014's self-released Butterfly. Heartstrings, their fourth full length record, was written through a series of group improvisations from which the ten songs here grew. Moving away from their accustomed writing habits was a bold decision considering the strength of their carefully crafted writing in the past. Regardless of approach, Heartstrings opens on reassuringly familiar ground. Hyson's harmonic sense ...
Continue ReadingSnowpoet (Lauren Kinsella & Chris Hyson): Heartstrings
by Geno Thackara
If the soul of a poet is determined to follow the muse anywhere, that means being ready to accept some emotional ups and downs--or if not always ready, then willing to take the ride anyway. Wordsmith Lauren Kinsella and sonic craftsman Chris Hyson have certainly taken their share of creative swings under the Snowpoet name, crossing her emotive musings with his instrumental backing of experimental-electro-chamber-folk. It makes for a colorful and often whimsical melange, like an exhibit of impressionist paintings ...
Continue ReadingCorrie Dick: Sun Swells
by Geannine Reid
Corrie Dick is a multi-instrumentalist who has recorded on drums, piano, vocals, synth, guitar, and trumpet. As a composer, Dick is known for his dynamism, his melodic slant, and his playfully subversive melding of genres. Presenting his sonically inventive drumming, which has a rhythmic epicenter of a new era of innovative British jazz, is Dick's release Sun Swells . The album's theme is to create a folk-rock-jazz with rock instrumentation and color by Rob Luft on guitar and Tom McCredie ...
Continue ReadingHenry Spencer: The Defector
by Neil Duggan
In 2011, trumpeter Henry Spencer won the Best Newcomer Award at the jazz festival in the Wiltshire town of Marlborough; he went on to win the Emerging Excellence Award from Help Musicians UK in 2014. Sometimes these awards add extra pressure or, as is the case here, propel the musician to new heights. He climbs very close to the summit here with The Defector. The nine compositions on the album were inspired by those who defect -soldiers, politicians or partners ...
Continue ReadingBeth Duncan: I'm All Yours
by C. Michael Bailey
As fertile and durable as the Great American Songbook is, like fossil fuels it is not an infinite and forgiving loam. It is a splendid jumping-off point, both historically and contemporarily, for the swan dive into jazz. At least tangentially, it also serves as the creative spark, igniting new, more progressive composition. This is where Sacramento-based singer Beth Duncan and, by extension, composer & lyricist Martine Tabilio deftly enter the picture. Duncan's previous two recordings Orange Colored Sky ...
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