Control Freak

Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 8, 2011)
• Original Release Date: August 15, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Delmark
• ASIN: B00004UENY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,634 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant album which is made with sheer ingenuity!!, June 12, 2001

By 

Sarwar AMIN (Oslo, NORWAY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Control Freak (Audio CD)

Like it's predecessor album, Heretic Blues which is a must for any music enthusiast, this album, Control Freak contains an excellent collections of jazz tunes. Every piece of music is spiritually and musically so brilliant that it is even impossible to describe in words here. The CD starts with two exceptional nice instrumental jazz pieces "She Got the Apples" and "Man Alive". The pieces "One Lonely Drum", "Tight And Long", "The Depths", "Oh, So Quietly He Went", "Tell Everyone I Said Goodbye" and "Caravan" contains the vocal of Andrew Bird and as usual he actually performed his job with sheer perfection. Every song is undoubtedly mind blowing. Caravan has the elements of gypsy music tradition. This piece shows again how talented musician Mr. Bird is and how sexy and hot the strings of violin can be. In this CD, Mr. Bird has mastered both his vocal and strings of violin perfectly like his previously two highly acclaimed albums, Thrills and Oh! The Grandeur.

Every piece in this CD is made with sheer ingenuity by the leadership of Mr. Kevin O'Donnell. But I must mention about the the instrumental peices such as "The Blanket Drag" and "Thanks For Dinner" which are extremely lively. "No More Oscar" sounds quite like funeral parade or marching jazz sound. The CD ends with a nice monologue or rather a recitaion as if it is a poetry. The lyrics of this piece "Chocolate Egg" is taken from an actual event from Mr. O'Donnell's childhood as it is claimed on the cover of this CD. Thanks Mr. O'Donnell for sharing his personal experience with us, though at cost of few bucks!

On the cover of this CD it is written that this CD has the influence of Tom Waits-infected blues. Actually, my early days of music collection started with among others the albums of musician Tom Waits and I have almost every album of Tom Waits today. I like his music and there is no doubt about that. But this CD, Control Freak or their previous CD, Heretic Blues does sound better than any of the Tom Waits album. I consider this CD to be another milestone in my collection. Anyway, I thank every musician of this group Q6 for giving us such a wonderfull album. Especially, my thanks goes to co-producer Mr. Mike Napolitano who previously have produced some of the most brilliant albums that I have ever listened.

As a jazz enthusiast, I could give this CD ten stars with out any doubt. I strongly recommend any one to buy this extremely sexy, hot and diverse CD NOW.

(Buy also CDs of the gifted musician Andrew Bird, Kevin O'Donnels, Tom Maxwell, Tom «Jimbo» Mathus, Katharine Whalen and of the group Squirrel Nut Zippers, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, Kevin O'Donnels Quality Six and other musicians whose name appears on the cover of their CDs. These musicians use to collaborate with each other.)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars geez, i can't believe no one else has reviewed this, February 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Control Freak (Audio CD)

this is a really wonderful album. the first "quality 6" release was pretty good, but this is a lot more fun. there's a lot of style and personality with this group, and plenty of musicianship to go with it. the only song i'm not too impressed with is "caravan", but i've never really liked that song, so i feel guilty holding it against koq6 for failing to change my mind. there are plenty of strong tracks, but the big crowd pleaser i'm sure is the opening song, "she's got the apples". that song ROCKS. the rest of album never matches the hyperness that it starts off with, but you don't really feel sorry about it. it veers off in all kinds of different directions and finally closes with what most people would probably consider to be a novelty song, the spoken word "chocolate eggs" (which, despite several listenings, i have yet to tire of).

buy this cd, and you won't be disappointed. personally, i wished i lived in chicago so i could check these guys out on regular basis. if only...

5.0 out of 5 stars Sparkling, Snarky Fun!, July 28, 2006

By 

Anon (New Haven) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Control Freak (Audio CD)

I found my way to Kevin O'Donnell's cds through my love of Andrew Bird's music. Now Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six shares pride of place at the very top of my playlist.

Each track is tightly woven and masterfully played. Lyrics are often delivered with wit and always executed with flair. O'Donnell's drums shimmer and Bird's violin just plain sings.

What's more, this music is flat-out fun. "Control Freak" and "Heretic Blues" got me through the grueling ordeal of studying for the NY Bar Exam. And if I actually pass, I will find Mr. O'Donnell and I will buy him a drink.