Asher Quinn - Songs Of Love And Chains

Asher Quinn - Songs Of Love And Chains

2008, Oreade Music

Asher Quinn is best known as a new-age/ambient composer, selling over half a million albums since his debut in 1987, but at heart he is something of a balladeer.  His 2007 album, Songs Of Love And Chains, covers several decades of musical history with a collection of cover songs done in the simple and clear style of a bard. Artists such as Leonard Cohen, The Righteous Brothers, Jimmy Webb and Jimi Hendrix get Asherized on the two-disc set, with varying degrees of success.

Quinn opens with an ethereal cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire".  Sung over a thin veil of undulating synth, Quinn's voice just seems out of place here.  It's a solid rendition, but something just doesn't quite work for Quinn here.  "Golden Brown" is pretty and watery and undulating in its feel, fading away in much the same rippling fashion as it plays.  Quinn paints The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" with a similar brush in a minimalist synth arrangement.  Quinn's distinctive vibrato plays about the melody in memorable fashion, although he struggles with the lower notes at times.  Quinn takes more of a folk-inspired approach on "Dona Dona Dona", sticking to guitar and harmonica in an energetic and inspired arrangement.  Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" gets softball treatment, setting it up as tortured piano ballad.  While Quinn's take is solid, it pales in the shadow of the original.

Quinn takes emotive turns in "Hang On To A Dream" and "Lift Me Up", the latter saccharine and drawn out to extreme, but recovers nicely in the tragic "Down In The Willow Garden".  Love goes violently wrong in this classic-style folk song, and Quinn gives it voice in a blend of denial and delusion mixed with love.  Quinn hits all the right notes on "Do What You Gotta Do", making the most of Jimmy Webb's creation in a touching performance that's full of emotion and nuance.  "Pastures Of Plenty" doesn't go quite as well, with Quinn setting the key too low for his own vocal comfort.  The low notes here have an unfortunate sound that simply doesn't work.  Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" gets much better treatment, an almost wavelike feel that speaks of cycles within cycles.  Quinn is perfectly matched to this song, and it's one of the absolute highlights on the album.

Quinn's take on "The Highwayman" is solid if uninspiring.  He hits all the right notes in a technical perfect performance, but the heart of the piece just isn't there.  "Only You" goes a bit better, with Quinn capturing the heart and soul of the Erasure Song while using a surprisingly fitting harpsichord sound.  Quinn makes easy work of "Mr. Bojangles" in a solid performance that's filled with the quiet awe the song achieves in its best moments.  Quinn revisits Leonard Cohen with "Hallelujah", sticking very close to the feel of the original in a quietly moving performance. 

Quinn fumbles a bit before stumbling into his wonderfully stripped down and lovely take on Willie Nelson's "You Were Always On My Mind".  Simplicity is the key here, allowing Nelson's classic melody and lyrics to speak for themselves.  Quinn likewise scores with a take on Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me", an understated but likeable interpretation to one of Cooke's finest songs.  "All Along The Watchtower" doesn't fare quite so well, lacking any of the intensity you might expect from the song.  "Not Dark Yet" has its own magic, a quiet penultimate track that finds Quinn raising his game at just the right time.  Songs Of Love And Chains closes with "Jah No Dead" in a flat an uninspired performance that is an unfortunate piece of punctuation on an up-and-down album that has more positives than negatives. 

Asher Quinn's expertise and talent as a composer is unquestionable, but as essentially a solo performer in the pop/folk realm he struggles at times.  Songs Of Love And Chains is aptly named both for the song selection and for extremes Quinn hits in his interpretation of classic songs that cross boundaries, genres and generations.  It's not entirely surprising that some of Quinn's best performances are covers of classic singer/songwriters of the 1960's, but the unevenness of the album may scare off some fans from dropping for a two-disc set.  There's enough here to make the album worth owning, but you couldn't be blamed for selecting your favorite fifteen tracks or so and sequencing your own Quinn album out of the lot.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

 Learn more about Asher Quinn at http://www.asherquinn.co.uk/.  Songs Of Love And Chains is available from Amazon.com as 2-CD Set or Download.  The album is also available via iTunes.

Groove For Thought – Groove For Thought

Groove For Thought – Groove For Thought
2006, Groove For Thought

If you happened to check out Ben Folds’ The Sing Off! this past December on NBC you would be acquainted with a number of top-notch a cappella groups.  One of the groups who particularly impressed as Seattle’s Groove For Thought.  With a sound that blends pop, R&B and jazz, Groove For Thought established themselves as a dynamic vocal force.  We recently received Groove For Thought’s self-titled debut album from 2006 and decided to give it a spin.

Groove For Thought opens with “Lay It Back”, a funky jazz/pop piece with Take 6-style harmonies.  Sung with instrumentation, the piece has a nice sound and moves with a flourish.  Groove For Thought’s take on Three Dog Night’s “Joy To The World” is inspired, highlighting tempo changes and stark harmonies over an irrepressible bass line.  “And So It Goes”, written by Billy Joel, is one of the tunes Groove For Thought performed on The Sing Off!  The version offered here is played with a bit too much; the version on the show was a bit more stripped down to allow the vocals to truly shine.  “Gotta Lotta Lemons” is performed in a jazz arrangement with instruments.  Groove For Thought offers this one up in a big sound, almost like a vocal jazz band.  This tune is entertaining, danceable and pretty.

“My Perfect Day” shows off gorgeous harmonies in a light R&B and pop arrangement.  It’s one of the prettiest vocal arrangements on the album.  Ben E. King’s “Lean On Me” is offered up in a modern electronic funk arrangement.  The version on the album is pretty but underwhelming vocally.  This is one on those iconic songs you really have to step up with when you perform it.  Groove For Thought offers a nice version, but not one that’s worthy of the quality of the song.  “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” is heartfelt and soulful; beautifully done.  The frenetic and complex voxtrumental “La Fiesta” is highly entertaining; a Latin jazz & swing extravaganza that brings light instrumentation into the mix but impresses for the vocal work nonetheless.  Groove For Thought closes with “Walk The Straighter Road”, a peaceful and pretty signoff that shows off Groove For Thought at their harmonious best.

Groove For Thought impressed on The Sing Off! In December.  Groove For Thought impresses in its own right, although it’s clear that in the three years since this album was released the group has refined their sound.  There is a tendency to want to do too much here at times, but the vocal sounds are sublime when Groove For Thought hits their stride.  This album marks a solid starting place for a group that’s only gotten better with time.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Groove For Thought at http://www.grooveforthought.com/ or www.myspace.com/grooveforthought.  Groove For Thought is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.

Playing For Change - Playing For Change Live

Playing For Change - Playing For Change Live
2010, Concord Records

You have to strike while the iron is hot, as the old expression goes. Concord Records drops the fourth Playing For Change release in the past 14 months on June 15, 2010 with Playing For Change Live, a CD/DVD combo. This collaboration of New Orleans buskers and world renowned session players (with occasional guest appearances from the likes of Keb Mo') offers classic Americana and blues as well as the occasional classic R&B and soul on stage. Playing For Change isn't exactly a flavor of the month; these guys can flat out play, but Playing For Change Live begins to border on overkill.

Playing For Change Live opens with a rousing version of "Fannie Mae", driven by a classic R&B backbeat and some seriously dynamic vocal performances. "Don't Worry" has a gospel feel and a reggae beat; a feel good tune with secular spiritual undertones. "I’ve Got Dreams To Remember" is full of sorrow and hope and a heart-rending vocal line; but the breakdown at about three-and-a-half minutes thoroughly destroys the rhythm of the song. The band picks things up and put it back together, but the flow is lost. Playing For Change marries a northern African style to a funk groove on "Fela Ngaye", an entertaining and danceable tune that's worth checking out, but by now there is a lack of cohesion of direction on the album. For a live performance there's no real flow; it's more a compilation of songs played live, but the band is traveling willy-nilly through a songbook that's drawn from all compass points.

"Love Is My Religion" is an easy-going reggae tune that's a fun listen; a pleasant turn that underscores the lack of direction in the performance. Likewise, Playing For Change's cover of Bob Marley's "One Love" is enjoyable, but remarkably tame for a band that made it because of the vitality and personality of their individual performances. It's as if the action of time together and the influx of polished industry influence has taken some of the time out of Playing For Change. The band closes out with the song that started it all, Ben E. King's "Stand By Me". It's a solid performance and the expected closer.

Like most great ideas, Playing For Change started out with the vitality of something new, and like most great ideas the magic of the moment of discovery fades with time. Playing For Change offers up solid performances in Playing For Change Live, but the newness is gone. This isn't so much a comment on the phenomena of the band but the band itself. There are still flashes of the gritty, down-home persona that Playing For Change projected in both the original documentary and subsequent debut album, but it's mostly been replaced by the polish of production and the influence of too many individuals who now how to make an album but not how to preserve the music. If you're a fan of Playing For Change then this album is an enjoyable listen, but far from indispensable. The change has come.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Playing For Change at http://www.playingforchange.com/ or www.myspace.com/playingforchange. Playing For Change Live drops on June 15, 2010. You can order the CD/DVD combo from Amazon.

Review: Playing For Change - Songs From Around The World

Playing For Change - Songs From Around The World
2009, Hear Music

Playing For Change is the brainchild of Grammy Award winning producer Mark Johnson. Johnson was on his way to work one day in New York City several years ago and witnessed the tangible response a group of New York City subway denizens had to two musicians on a subway platform. Johnson was reminded in that moment of the power of music to change people, events, etc. From that moment came the seeds of Playing For Change. Traveling first around 4 major cities in the US and eventually around the world, Johnson and his team spent several years filming/recording unknown musicians from the four corners of the earth. On April 28, 2009, Songs From Around The World will become available for sale, and it may just be a life-changing experience for some.

Songs From Around The World opens with Stand By Me, a classic folk take on the Ben E. King/Leiber & Stoller classic with elements of Soul, Reggae and Gospel woven in. The video for this song has been making the rounds on YouTube for months. The singers are Roger Ridley, Grandpa Elliott and Clarence Bekker, performing with a truly international band. The Playing For Change band next tackles Bob Marley’s One Love in an arrangement that sounds like Appalachian Blues gone Reggae (if there is such a thing). The vocal arrangement here is primo, and the instrumentation is as down home as it can get. Marley’s War/No More Trouble is one of the more enjoyable songs on the disc, featuring vocalists including Bono and Bob Marley, but the highlight is the cover of Peter Gabriel's Biko. Performed in an Americana arrangement, this rendition puts a fresh spin on the song while staying true to the spirit of the original. Afro Fiesta's rendition of Tracy Chapman’s Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution is inspired, and Keb Mo' is his incomparable self on Better Man. Another highlight is the Omagh Community Choir's rendition of Love Rescue Me. The album closes out with the Playing For Change band giving a standing-O performance of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come. The accompanying DVD features videos of several of the songs on the CD.

Playing For Change is an acknowledgement of, and a testament to the power of music to change the world. Johnson is witness and messenger to the power of music, seeing an esoteric performance in a subway bond together a hundred or so hard-nosed New Yorkers. Grammy Awards aside, this may be his legacy. The album itself is a great listen and highly recommended for roots music fans, or fans of great music, whatever the ilk. Even on the slower songs the artists on Songs From Around The World give their all; the energy and joy in this music is undeniable.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Playing For Change at http://www.playingforchange.com/. Songs From Around The World goes on sale April 28, 2009. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon.com.