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Forging An Eclectic Sound
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Drawing on each band member's musical and cultural background, Arizona-based Turning Point forged an eclectic sound that mixes progressive jazz with rock, R&B and blues (with touches of Greek music), and - paying homage to their home in the Southwest - Latin jazz. Guitarist Thano Sahnas is a superb musician who infuses the music on their latest instrumental CD, Matador, with the same energy and skill as Russ Freeman does with his band, The Rippingtons. While not an end-to-end guitar recording (guest performer, sax man Dominic Amato. carries a lot of the melodies), Sahnas injects a variety of axes into numbers such as "Spain" (acoustic) and the title track (electric) in a way that will leave guitar fans pleased. And if the trippy, electro-fusion, funk opener "Lickety Split" doesn't get you going, you must be dead. Highly recommended.
The four members of Turning Point - Thano Sahnas (guitar), his brother Demitri Sahnas (acoustic and fretless bass), keyboardist Steve Culp and drummer/percussionist John Herrera--faced a lot of flak in their early years for creating a genre practically unto themselves defying music industry convention. This initial resistance inspired them to push the envelope even further, and the payoff with audiences has been phenomenal. Turning Point has received acclaim for all of its previous releases, beginning with a self titled debut in 1995 and including A Cool Jazzy Christmas (1996), Together (1998), Bridges (1999) and A Thousand Stories (2000), which was produced by famed bassist Brian Bromberg and released nationally by A440 Music. Together earned the band its largest national audience, receiving airplay on more than 40 smooth jazz stations.
Aside from playing venues and doing TV and charity functions all over Arizona, the band has played in Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Fresno (the River Bend Jazz Festival), L.A.'s Baked Potato and Humphrey's in San Diego. Turning Point also performed in March of 2000 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (the original site of the Grand Ole Opry) for a cable TV show called Music Makers.
MP3 Songs
Matador
Spain
Contact Information
Native Language Music, Inc.
P.O. Box 52345
Irvine, CA 92619-2345
United States
E-mail:
Turning Point
Web site:
www.tpband.com
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Constant, Relentless Groove
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Invasion From Planet K is Minnesota guitarist Kevin Schafer's instrumental guitar CD, a ten track extravaganza that owes it's inspiration to the guitar rock of the 1970s. No burying riffs and solos in the mix here; the guitar is up-front and in-your-face - fortunately, Schafer has the chops (and the production muscle) to pull it off. Drummer Rikki Davenport is featured on all the songs, and they tracked the CD with no real rehearsals and no clicks - they just hit the groove a couple times, tap their toes, and track it. The end result is an organic, heavy, hard rock experience that pretty much delivers everything that Schafer promises, "Your gonna hear booty quakin' grooves, coupled with cop show beats. Mix that with a Marshall cranked to twelve and you got yourself just a bit of sonic love..."
Kevin has been playing guitar for over 20 years, and says the azz smackin' '70s are without a doubt one of his biggest influences. You had Evel Knievel jumping canyons, you had Muhammad Ali whoopin' ass and you had the best rock, funk and fusion going on. It was the style of this time that made music so colorful and explosive. Artists such as Jeff Beck, Robin Trower, Alan Holdsworth and Eddie Van Halen inspired Kevin to get playing in the first place. The '70s flavor has inspired him to get loud again. His other influences include James Brown, P Funk, Miles Davis and early Prince. The fusion of hard funk and hard rock has long been a source of inspiration to Kevin.
Schafer's live band is extremely dynamic, very improvisational and constantly jumping over the cliff. You won't hear them doing cookie cutter rehashes of the material. The band tries to push themselves, which makes for a very exciting live show, with a constant and relentless groove.
MP3 Songs
Sophisticated Mama
Sucker Punch
Contact Information
Kevin Schafer
7239 Oliver Ave. S
Richfield, MN 55423
United States
E-mail:
Kevin Schafer
Web site:
www.soundclick.com/kevinschafer
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