Justin Horn (vcl); Mike DeRose (gtr); Jim Sodke (keys); Eric Hervey (bs); Ryan Schiedermayer (dms/ perc);
Thomas Barber, Jeff Pietrangelo (tpts); Warren Wiegratz (alt); Andrew Spadafora (ten/bar); Patricia Horn (perc); Ameerah Tatum (vcl).
(Review by Debra M.)
Justin Horn is a composer,
arranger and vocalist, currently pursuing a PhD in Auckland , New Zealand
All
but one of the tracks are original, and
his arrangements combine his smooth
vocal interspersed with melodic
horn lines, underpinned by Ryan
Schiedermayer on drums and Eric Hervey on bass.
The first track, Open The Door, lies somewhere between the musical
territories of Jamiroquai, Sade and Ben Folds, and this initial impression is
confirmed in the subsequent songs,
culminating in a soulful duet with
Ameerah Tatum, which is reminiscent of Brand New Heavies. Same Thing’ll Happen is an unexpected digression
into a straightforward blues, which gives the guitarist Mike Derose the chance
to have some fun and Andrew Spadafora to play a raunchy sax solo. The best
tracks, though, are when Horn gets more adventurous. ‘Zig Zag’ is an extended
instrumental which gets seriously funky; Scheidermayer and Hervey excel,
providing the ideal backdrop for trumpeter Thomas Barber. Makin’ Bacon is
also fun and funky, with some good saxes, percussion and possibly genuine
sizzling rashers. But my favourite is
Horn’s arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s Footprints, which
starts with percussion and vocal, followed by a lovely bass riff, and includes a sumptuous trumpet solo. This track definitely makes it onto the
‘Late Night Grooves’ playlist.
Justin Horn - Hornology was released earlier this year on Rotato Records.
Debra M.
1 comment :
Thank you for the review on Justin Horn, it was wonderful to see how versed Debra M’s listening palette is – she referenced some wonderful supporting contrasts and I enjoyed her review very much. Thank you to one an all for the truly wonderfully written review.
Post a Comment