{"id":41432,"date":"2009-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/life-this-time\/"},"modified":"2009-04-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-01T00:00:00","slug":"life-this-time","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/life-this-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Life This Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if I told you that there was this guy who plays funk bass, sings like a late 1980\u2019s R&B crooner, solos like a jazz guitarist and sprinkles his songs with European techno-pop?\u00a0 Would you believe me?\u00a0 Well, you better believe, because his name is Jerome Lee.\u00a0 Jerome Lee makes music that, when described, does not sound like it would be enjoyable (anyone want to go to the jazzy R&B Euro techno-pop concert?) but works, somehow, some way.\u00a0 His 2003 album, Life This Time, <\/i>recorded in Holland, is a worthwhile \u2013 albeit imperfect \u2013 conjoining of these three styles.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The first thing I noticed about Jerome Lee on Life This Time <\/i>was that he could sing \u2013 and sing well.\u00a0 The smooth tenor\u2019s voice is strong and engaging, particularly in \u201cReach,\u201d a beautiful, lovemaking R&B ballad.\u00a0 Lee\u2019s voice mixes vulnerability and confidence \u2013confident in his love, vulnerable to his lover.\u00a0 Even when he sings laughable, half-baked lyrics (\u201cI have traveled \u2018round this world \/ Yes, I\u2019ve seen so many pretty girls \/ Some I find are far too lonely \/ Love is one thing for her to do only\u201d), the sincere and passionate emotion dripping from his voice shines clearly.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The second thing I noticed about Jerome Lee was that this cat could play!\u00a0 Sure, he is a solid bass player, but Lee really transcends the realm of \u201cgood\u201d bass players when he solos.\u00a0 Take his solo in the techno-pop inspired \u201cDruk Op De Een.\u201d\u00a0 Lee\u2019s solo is melodic yet forceful.\u00a0 He flawlessly mixes engaging, sing-able melodies with thought-provoking rhythmic variations. He brings the art of the jazz solo to a style of music known mostly for its computer-generated sounds. That alone is something to boast about.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

My favorite song on the album is \u201cTime Gone Away,\u201d a bass duet between Lee and himself.\u00a0 Written with exquisite melodic detail and close attention to arrangement, \u201cTime Gone Away\u201d may only feature bass, but it emanates a rich, full sound.\u00a0 Reminding me of the Victor Wooten bass ballads, Lee shows that the electric bass, if played correctly, can be as beautiful as its higher-toned counterparts.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Despite containing some great music, \u201cTime Gone Away\u201d is certainly not perfect.\u00a0 First off, as mentioned earlier, Lee\u2019s lyrics are often generic and \u2013 dare I say \u2013 downright cheesy.\u00a0 Generally, the best lyrics are meaningful whether sung or spoken; \u201cNever won a beauty contest \/ But she\u2019s still the prettiest girl to me\u201d (\u201cPrettiest Girl\u201d) does not make the cut.\u00a0 Secondly, many of the songs lack a cohesive arrangement.\u00a0 The George Benson influence in Lee\u2019s composing is apparent, but many of his songs lack the practical sensibilities that made much of Benson\u2019s music so alluring.\u00a0 Lastly, Lee and co-producer Nikki Buzz often choose instrument tones that substantially detract from the listening experience.\u00a0 This is especially true on the closing track, \u201cStudent Jam.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The sounds on this track are so wearisome and insipid that they seem more appropriate for a Casio keyboard demo song than a professional recording.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

All in all, I applaud Jerome Lee for being so forthcoming in connecting jazzy R&B with techno. Lee showed me that these styles are more compatible than I had previously thought.\u00a0 And while some songs will move your heart and others will make your eyes roll, Lee\u2019s music is worth a listen if only to hear him solo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":29817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8374],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-41432","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jerome-lee","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41432","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\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41432"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}