CD Reviews: Ted Reichman “My Ears Are Bent” CD-2006 Skirl Records
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Posted by: adminon Friday, June 23, 2006 - 07:00 PM |
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By Glenn Astarita
Standards are sometimes meant to be broken, hence the large cardboard CD cases produced by this newly founded modern-jazz flavored record label. One of the three new releases is New York City downtown scene favorite, and multi-instrumentalist Ted Reichman’s delightful solo excursion. Created with infectious melodies, pumping backbeats and ornamental background synth treatments, the artist’s deeply personalized compositional forays are highly engaging.
Electric guitarist Mary Halverson generates animated jazz lines, while Reichman’s pump organ and acoustic piano grooves are designed with deceptively complex progressions. Whether executing a trance-like passage atop drummer John Hollenback’s solid pulses, or when deviating into the avant-garde with quirky motifs, Reichman’s visualizations surface in flying colors here. In spots, he merges cyclical and haunting themes with simplicity, often countered with a pop-like muse boasting capacious movements with a sense of childlike innocence. On the piece “It Is Almost Sacred,” Reichman combines a church organ vibe with a simple acoustic guitar ostinato. Here, he pronounces a sanctified mindset. However, the title track’s tuneful and anthem-like qualities are augmented by Hollenbeck’s climactically oriented rhythms. Thus, the newly issued gem defies strict categorizations, where space-rock, pop, and jazz align for an unlikely union that makes near perfect sense. (A top-10 pick for 2006). – Glenn Astarita
Ted Reichman: piano, electronics, guitar, bass, percussion, pump organ; Mary Halverson: electric guitar; John Hollenbeck: drums;
www.skirlrecords.com
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