Customer Reviews

Gabe Dixon Band

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dixon has been compared to singer-songwriters Ben Folds, Billy Joel and Elton John, and though he's likewise a pianist, his songs are more often wistful in the vein of Jackson Brown or Paul Simon. There's a soulful grandeur to his playing and singing, with funky elements as on Elton John's albums from the first-half of the 1970s; he lopes along on the New Orleans-styled second-line rhythm of "Till You're Gone" and takes on gospel-influences for "Find My Way." Dixon's classical training and the group's improvisational background can be heard in the quality of the arrangements and the solidarity of the playing (mostly recorded live-in-the-studio), but having pared themselves to a trio, the songs are now carefully honed to three- and four-minute pop pieces that forsake the overt jazz influences heard on the group's 2002 release, "On a Rolling Ball."

Like the best piano-led bands, the absence of guitar here is hardly noticeable. Dixon's playing has such a rich sound, that backed by bass and drums, its many octaves and sympathetic overtones fill the sonic palette. Dixon's voice lies complementarily on the lower notes of his piano playing, and on mid-tempo numbers such as the imagery-driven "All Will Be Well," his voice rings with the purity of Paul Simon. Though you'd be hard-pressed to label this band as Americana, their Nashville residence (Dixon's hometown, to which he returned after several years in New York) lends these songs an earnestness that winningly supports lyrics of love that's alternately new, sustained, broken and longed for. Dixon's equally convincing singing the first-person story of a return home on "Five More Hours" as he is detailing another's nearly suicidal loss on "And the World Turned."

Though Dixon's vocals provide a line of continuity from the band's earlier works, their new-found focus on concise songwriting and arranging provides a powerful multiplier to their performing. Dixon's voice fits beautifully into the songs, his piano playing is stirring on both the upbeat numbers and ballads, and the rhythm section provides fitting accompaniment rather than demonstrating their chops. The result is lively and engaging on both an intellectual and emotional level and a big step forward for this fine trio. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

I absolutely love this CD! I've been a fan of The Gabe Dixon Band for years and was excited to hear they had another album coming out, but this CD exceeded my expectations. As another reviewer noted, this CD is a little more pop than the band's earlier album--it lacks the long jazz improve-like sections featured on the earlier album, but it definitely avoids the generic radio-edit sound and showcases the band's style. At times soulful, upbeat, playful, and mellow, it's just plain fun to listen to. There's not a single song that I don't like. Highly, highly recommended!

I rarely write reviews but in this case I simply have to because I cannot recommend this CD highly enough. Like others here, I discovered The Gabe Dixon Band when Gabe and Jano Rix opened for Loggins and Messina here about a month ago. As extraordinary as the L&M performance was that night, one of the standout highlights was Gabe and Jano performing together. I bought this CD before I left and I've been listening to it nearly constantly ever since. Every song is a gem, ranging in mood from heartbreaking through reflective to bouncy and upbeat. There is gorgeous, versatile songwriting here, masterful playing, commanding vocals. And all ingeniously arranged - so simple yet so rich. I find myself replaying all of these songs in my head, every one is that good and that memorable. There's something here for everyone - in fact, my 12-year old son went to the concert with me and these guys were his favorite part of the concert. Buy this CD for yourself and then buy copies for all your friends.

This is one of 'those' recording. The one that you turn on when you have others in your car. The songs you play when you have guests over for a party. The type of music you listen to when you need to feel grounded and real. A real treat for people who love to dream.
I highly recommend Gabe's music.
He reminds me a lot of an American Jamie Cullum with a bit of early Billy Joel thrown in...

I would also urge you to catch The Gabe Dixon Band live. What a great show! Lot's of positive vibes.

I purchased this CD at a concert just after hearing the Gabe Dixon Band (actually the duo of Gabe Dixon and Jano Rix) perform as warm-up for Loggins & Messina in August of 2009. It is no small feat to engage a crowd waiting for a headlining act, especially when the warm-up is a newer artist playing to, shall we say, an older crowd. But the musicianship and song-writing of the Gabe Dixon Band won the crowd over. During his set, Gabe Dixon played about half of the tracks on this CD. And when he finished, I wasn't the only person lining up in the vendor area to buy the CD before Loggins & Messina took the stage (with Gabe Dixon, in fact, playing keyboards in their backing band.)

This was my introduction to The Gabe Dixon Band. He has put out other CDs previously, but I think this is his best effort yet - the music is more acoustical with a pure musical feel. The songs, whether written by Gabe Dixon alone or with someone else, all have a straightforward presentation with little studio gimmickry. Suffice to say that the songs he played in concert sound just as they do on this album.

All the songs are very listenable and a number of them are quite special. Two of those songs open this CD; "Disappear" which is followed by "Five More Hours", the opening number of the live set I saw (a great driving song about heading home from New York "to the place I know" - I think Gabe mentioned that it was North Carolina.)

"Further the Sky" is a slower duet with Mindy Smith which is also reprised in instrumental form as the last track of the album.

"All Will Be Well", Gabe explained was written at a low point and offers a comforting and reaffirming message that in fact, all WILL be well. It really has a Paul Simon feel to it.

"Find My Way" is the song that is featured at the beginning of the recent romantic comedy movie hit, "The Proposal" (with Ryan Reynolds racing to beat Sandra Bullock to work with two coffees in hand.)

"Till You're Gone" and "Sirens" offer funkier and more rocking grooves.

But check out all the songs. There's something for all tastes and there isn't a clunker in the bunch. And when you listen to this CD, keep in mind this full sound is produced by a mere three musicians. And the sound you get on the album is the sound you will get if you see Gabe Dixon in concert.

If you like sound of Bruce Hornsby and the Range or the song styles of Paul Simon, you will probably enjoy Gabe Dixon. I hope to hear more from Gabe in the future and plan to keep the Gabe Dixon Band on my radar.

You should, too.

I rarely write reviews, but I want to spread the word about Gabe Dixon Band. My sister told me about this album. Once I heard it, I had to buy it.

This album reminds me of EARLY Billy Joel with a dash of Bruce Hornsby. (Check out Billy Joel's Cold Spring Harbor, interesting similarities.)

Dixon's touch on the piano is fabulous. The writing, Gabe Dixon's voice, the band... none of them will disappoint. The sound is consistent between songs, and yet each song has a fresh story, melody and rhthym.

My favorite songs: All Will Be Well (One can't help but believe it when listening to this hopeful music), and The World Turns (I love how he captures the essence of water in the piano). My 10-year old daughter's favorites: Disappear and 5 More Hours of Highway.

I don't buy a lot of full CDs anymore - I mostly buy single songs... but this is one of the few I bought the whole thing - Just discovered them from the movie "The Proposal" -- wow - other than one other band (Downhere), it's been a long time - maybe since Train, that I've heard a 'complete' CD where every song is great.

It's been a good solid 5 years since the last studio effort from Gabe and company, and a lot has changed since then. Those who have loved "On A Rolling Ball" will notice several changes: No more saxophone, more steinway and less fender rhodes, a gentler singing voice from Gabe and a more mellow sound in general with lighter texture and slower tempos. The result is a nice change. Especially since the songs on this album are so great. The disc features 8 new cuts, 3 squeaky clean studio versions of tracks from the "Live at the World Cafe EP" (Five More Hours, All Will Be Well, and Ever After You) and one closing cut that is an instrumental reprise one of the other tracks. Not a bad song on the album. Fans of the previous studio release will be happy to hear the electric piano on "Further the Sky" which is probably the most powerful cut on the album, and fans of the grooves that dominated On A Rolling Ball will be pleased with the funky "Find My Way" and the New Orleans street beat feel of "Till You're Gone" (where Gabe really lets loose with a killer piano solo). "Sirens" also gets a lot of energy going on it and is akin to "Sitting at the Station" from the previous release. The single, Disappear is very strong, and people will be happy to hear just Gabe and Piano on "And The World Turned." The three cuts from the live EP have retained their integrity on the studio album, but have some nice tasteful overdubs (organ, light guitar, strings, ect.) that keep them from being carbon copies of the live versions. The songs tend to stand alone, and the whole album doesn't have a really strong overarching theme, but all of them are just so GOOD. Powerful, poetic lyrics, rich harmonic vocabulary, clean and tasteful production and really solid song-writing make this new release from the Gabe Dixon Band a wonderful addition to the piano rock genre that Elton John, Billy Joel and Ben Folds have all convinced us to love.

This album is amazing. It contains both classic and new songs, and I love the new ones just as much. I highly recommend you in buying this! Gabe Dixon is a piano- and in general, music-genius. Jano Rix and Winston Harrison are also amazing! My favorites songs on this album are "Further The Sky" and "Far From Home".

This extremely talented band has never gotten any air play where I live in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. The only way I'd ever heard of them was when they warmed up for a Loggins & Messina concert I attended a few years ago. Gabe Dixon was incredible and I bought this cd on the spot. After I got home and listened to it, I couldn't understand why this band isn't A listed -- amazing talent. I believe Gabe Dixon is one of the best bands out there today & am hoping they'll soon receive the recognition they deserve.