However, the main aesthetic in the presentation is how Barsh keeps the music smooth but interesting. It's chillin' but there's a little too much musicianship present and Barsh's compositions a little too complex to them to call it "smooth jazz." All the same, the songs are high on the groove quotient, because the songs never contain balls-to-the-wall soloing. The balance between making the head and the heart happy is just about right.
Throughout the record, Barsh's preferred instruments are piano, electric piano, electric clavinet, and melodica. Throughout, there's echoes of fusion bigs who've come before him, primarily keyboardists. "Plans Change" sounds like Joe Sample, circa 1973. "Wake Up And Smile" is a little like Chick Corea and Return To Forever. "nuTrance" is something Bugge Wesseltoft could have done. "Rainy Day Jam" and "This Is The Song" are both vintage Jeff Lorber-style jams. "Harriet Nyborg" calls to mind Steely Dan in it's knotty piano chord progressions.
There are a few short interludes like the pulsing "Jew Hefner" or the faux-reggae "George Dub" that don't seem to be saying anything musically. Thankfully, those are more than redeemed by the more developed longer pieces like "Between Dead And Alive," which is a waltzing, somber ballad that showcases Barsh's melodica skills well.
With I Forgot What You Taught Me, Sam Barsh formally announces his arrival to the jazz world. Ready or not, he's here, folks. I, for one, hope he's around the scene a long time.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
you said "Lorber"...eweee!!!
;-)
2 - Pico
I probably should have clarified that to mean that Barsh recalls the seventies version of Lorber, which is some pretty interesting stuff. But Lorber is still kind of a guilty pleasure for me, as I've already mentioned on my guilty pleasures piece some time back.
3 - Mark Saleski
i have to admit that i've never listened to any of his stuff....for the obvious reasons.
4 - Pico
Yeah, Lorber's artistic decline roughly coincided with the addition of a certain sax player into his band.
*ducks and runs*
5 - Mark Saleski
so it's Jeff Lorber, the pre-Poodle Years that should be investigated?
6 - Pico
The early, pre-smooth jazz period was about the time I first heard Lorber. Back then his melodic lines were a lot trickier and did a lot of metre-shifting. Heavily derivative of the Hancock Head Hunters and Chick Corea Return To Forever stuff that was still popular with fusion-heads at the time, but with a bit more emphasis on grooving over wankery. That won't give him a lot of points for originality, but there were far worse role models he didn't emulate. Lift Off and Water Sign are the best of that period.