Customer Reviews

The Lost Dream

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As Smooth Jazz evolves, let's look back to the beginning, when it included a myriad of compelling musical elements... melodic, rhythmic and textural. There was contemporary jazz, but also rock and new age, urban and world... a veritable potpourri of intriguing sounds. It's time for Smooth Jazz to rediscover it roots. What made the sound truly unique and captivating back then may help freshen things up today... Detroit-area multi-instrumentalist Jamie Craig's new album THE LOST DREAM is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Think Vangelis meets Yes and you'll get the idea of the vibe Mr. Craig has created on this uber impressive collection of eleven originals, performed on his keyboards, synthesizers, and computers. As he puts it, "The sounds you can get out of synthesizers are either ultra-real or fantasy-like... a virtual world of music that mostly incorporates traditional sounds, but sometimes takes the notes of an instrument beyond its actual capabilities." The result of this musical synthesis is an emotional sonic journey through moods ranging from the sadness of losses ("The Lost Dream") through the cerebral self-talk of "Did You Need to Ask?" to the exhilaration of fresh hope for the future ("Take the High Road"). Jamie Craig's THE LOST DREAM is a stunning fusion of contemporary jazz, prog-rock and melodic nu age that totally adds a fresh, new, yet classically timeless depth to what today's Smooth Jazz needs to be. Highly recommended! ~SCOTT O'BRIEN

Apparently musician Jamie Craig creates all the prog-rock sounds on his new CD, The Lost Dream, using synthesizers. But you wouldn't know it by hearing it. The recording sounds like a full rock band kicking out the jams, but using a small handful of "arty" touches like a sax or French horn here and there.

My favorite tunes are "Did You Have To Ask?" and "The Steel Wheel." It's a big sound to be created by one guy.

Craig was a rock-and-roll electric bassist for many years before expanding his arsenal to include electric guitar, piano and an ever-updated collection of keyboards. Now he composes on piano, but creates the full band sound on his recordings exclusively using keyboards, synthesizers and computers. For example, The Lost Dream features the sounds of eight distinctively-different bass guitars, all synthesized. According to Jamie: "Sure, I could plug in my bass guitar and record, but there is no reason to do it that way when I can play those exact sounds, and countless more, using electronic keyboards."

Craig explains further: "The sounds you can get out of synthesizers are either ultra-real or fantasy-like. It is similar to seeing a great animated film where the sky is bluer than a real sky and the characters body movements go beyond what is possible in real life. But we enter their world and enjoy the entertainment they provide. That is what I am striving for using synthesizers -- a virtual world of music that mostly incorporates traditional sounds, but sometimes takes the notes of an instrument beyond its actual capabilities."

The result is music that bridges the gap between early synthesizer classics by Vangelis and Kitaro, and the instrumental passages found in the progressive-rock of Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Genesis and more-recent prog-rockers such as Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Dream Theater. So dream on, brother, and keep the prog coming.

The Lost Dream by Jamie Craig

There is a lot of power in splitting atomic particles. Likewise with musical fusion. Keyboardist Jamie Craig captures that power on his jazz-rock CD, THE LOST DREAM, which splits his sounds between genres.
Taking elements of jazz, progressive rock and space music, Craig blends it into a highly-enjoyable mix. A piano solo one minute, a sax break the next, lots of melodic synthesizer, a bass solo in one tune, powerful drums, an organ elsewhere it all adds up to an eclectic fusion extravaganza. When smooth jazz first appeared, there were cries that it was not jazz, and now it is the most-played genre of instrumental music in the world. So give Jamie Craig the benefit of the doubt. This instrumental music may very well be pushing jazz into a new direction (beyond where jazz-rock left off 20 years ago).
So give this jazzy, rocking, high-soaring, rhythmic release a listen.

Fusion forever!