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Vol. 13, No. 6: Dec.-Jan. 2008
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| Gregory Simmons "Signs Of Life": Independent Review
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Gregory Simmons
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Review of "Signs Of Life"
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By: Jeff Charney
ou will not find Smooth Jazz on this disc. What you wil find is a
guitarist who takes his jazz playing pretty serious. Simmons is deeply
influenced by fusion music. As one would guess with this background
there a lot of notes to comprehend here, but Simmons isn't just playing
notes to hear himself pluck. His notes makes sense as he gives his own
compositions some life and meaning. "Cabo Rojo" is my favorite track
on the record. It is an depth story with a nice melody that sounds
like a travel log. I found my self listening to it and then it hit me
how good this song was. "A Simple Explanation" has a nice beat with
some spunk. "Dusk To Dawn" has a nice reoccurring back melody.
Simmons is a very good guitar player. He also wrote all of the
compositions, though I'm not sure that is his strong suit for some of
the tunes are a little lacking in direction. Overall this disc took me
by surprise - pleasantly so.
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©
Jeff Charney / Contemporary Jazz
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