If you’ve never heard of the Chapman Stick, you’ve missed out on
\nsomething special in the world of music. A unique-looking item, you
\npress on the strings instead of plucking them, allowing you to play
\nthe instrument like a piano instead of a guitar. The Stick allows
\nyou two-handed access, meaning you can play treble and bass lines
\nat the same time. Tony Levin is one of the best-known performers
\nwho uses the Stick; I’ve seen John Myung of Dream Theater play one
\nin concert. I’ve even had the chance to try one out myself, though
\nI admit I looked at the instrument like a monkey trying to do a
\nmath problem.<\/p>\n
Greg Howard is called one of the instrument’s best players, and
\nhas several albums’ worth of Stick-related music out.
\nLift<\/i>, the latest from the Greg Howard Band, has a few
\nmoments of greatness, but otherwise comes off sounding like Dave
\nMatthews Band trying to play smooth jazz.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, the sound of this group is one you have to get used
\nto; the “guitar player” you think you hear is actually Howard on
\nthe Stick. Yet Howard isn’t the person who remains in the spotlight
\nthroughout this disc; his bandmates – drummer\/percussionist Jan
\nWolfkamp, saxophonist\/violinist Hubert Heeringa, and bassist Jan
\nvan Olffen – take their time in front of the band, as does guest
\nsaxophonist Louis Gerrits.<\/p>\n
This might actually be the problem with
\nLift<\/i>. It’s not that these musicians aren’t talented; rather,
\nit’s that the Stick becomes part of the rhythmic backbone, not the
\ncenterpiece of the disc as I would have expected. Add into this mix
\na strange eclectic mix of jazz and pseudo new-age, and the
\nresulting disc is less than satisfying.<\/p>\n
Oh, it isn’t that the band doesn’t try. But songs like
\n“Dissent,” “Still Water” and ‘Cross Country” lack any real spark
\nthat would make the listener feel as if they were a part of
\nsomething special. Instead, the performances sound rote, and the
\nresult is a tad boring.<\/p>\n
Not all of the music on
\nLift<\/i> falls into this trap. The disc’s closer, “Experimental
\nSunrise,” sounds as if it’s three songs welded together – and it’s
\nan effect that works well, the tempo and stylistic changes becoming
\nlike a breath of fresh air when the listener needs it most. The
\nalbum wouldn’t have worked if all the songs were like this, but
\nthis particular example works well. Some of the shorter songs, like
\n“Restless” and “Nord,” also seem to sound revitalized, as if the
\nband was trying to make their statement in an abbreviated length of
\ntime.<\/p>\n
\nLift<\/i> could have been a great CD, with more controlled
\nsongwriting and more of an emphasis on the Stick. As it is now,
\nit’s a bit listless and droning, with flashes of clarity that show
\nthe listener what this disc could have been. If only
\nLift<\/i> didn’t come crashing down to earth as it has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7612],"rating":[11204],"class_list":["post-39455","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-greg-howard-band","rating-rating-c-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39455"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39455"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}