Body Popping, Moon Walking, Top Rocking

Happy Apple

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 22, 2000)
• Original Release Date: January 22, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Midwest Artists Dist.
• ASIN: B00004NRQE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,908 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From Jazziz
Coming out of the same school of post-fusion jazz as Charlie Hunter and Medeski, Martin & Wood, the Minneapolis band Happy Apple has a sound filled with acrobatic vamps, cinematic tone schemes, and visceral rock wallop. Body Popping/ Moon Walking/ Top Rocking, the trio's third album, follows the solid Part of the Solution Problem by delving deeper into the group's unique chemistry. This time there are no guests sitting in, just the three of them getting down to business.

The band of twenty-somethings plays its own version of fusion on saxophone, electric bass, and drums. The musicians neither overplay the tunes with hyperactive chops, nor are they afraid of playing quietly. Tracks like the melancholy "Where Does a Stranger Go on Christmas Eve?" and the understated "Wishing Book" display a depth of character not often associated with musicians straddling the rock and jazz worlds. The band also adeptly moves into jazzier territory with the winding vamp of "Marvin Says" and the unified three-minute blast "If This Is Love It Isn't."

It's not surprising that the band landed on a local alternative rock label, since they often share gigs and audiences with fellow Minneapolis rock acts. But Happy Apple should be a pleasant discovery for jazz fans looking for something from the rock/funk edge.

--- Tad Hendrickson Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Neil Tesser, Chicago Reader
"Drummer David King, saxist Michael Lewis, and bass guitarist Erik Fratzke offer up a lot of variety and the skill to control it: they can run from mournful lullabies to big-energy romps, but they always sound like the same band. On emotive passages, Lewiss tenor and soprano drip with the jazz equivalent of blue-eyed soulcavernous low notes and a yearning upper registerwhich makes his forays into screaming multiphonics and guttural sheets of sound more surprising and thus more effective. King, with whom Lewis founded Happy Apple three years ago, has all the requisite technique and then some, and Happy Apples got the ability to swing like Sosa on the hard n heavy stuff.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars yes, more praise, March 28, 2007

By	greg s. (Minnetonka, MN United States) - See all my reviews

Once you have seen Happy Apple live, you are going to want everything they record. They have all of the "right stuff" needed to be considered excellent and important. All of the emotional responses art can generate in we humans is acheived. Genuine beauty.

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Amazing Amazing, December 21, 2008

By	David Baker "CHug Munechow" (New Haven, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Body Popping - Moon Walking - Top Rocking (MP3 Download)

I love this album. If you are into thought provoking cutting edge modern jazz this is a trio worth exploring. Wonderful performances by musicians who are masters of their craft. Music to fit any mood. You will not regret this purchase. Alto, Bass, and Kit communicating brilliant phrases over complex and fitting changes with obscure time signatures. A broad spectrum of styles and colors. I am incredibly envious of the other reviewers who have had a chance to see these guys live.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, February 28, 2006

By	afbg02 "afbg02" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This is a really great album of modern trio jazz. The sax playing explores thoughtful, beautiful passages and then hops into explosive free bursts. The electric bass is smooth and rumbling and as always, David King's ineffable rhythmic perfection rounds out the trio. Overall, the sound is playful, rhythmically dynamic, and just so fun to listen to. "Where does a stranger go on Christmas Eve?" and "Wishing Book" are perhaps my two favorite Happy Apple tunes, just beautiful, warm and mesmerizing. I think this disc is a bit more downtempo than some of the other HA albums. Highly Recommended.