Customer Reviews

Modern Times

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have Marc Antoine's entire music catalog. I have yet to like this album as much as the others. I understand what he is trying to do musically and as an artist but the album seems to lack a natural flow. The album "Universal Language" seems to achieve what he wanted to do with this album. Still not a bad album just not one of his better ones

This is a great CD... If you like to relax with some smooth music... This CD is for you... Also, If you like to get in a very good mood, and get energized... This CD is for You... It has it all...

Best tracks are Bella Via, Camden Town and Samba Hood...

This is a superb album which when I first bought could just not stop playing. Love Cambden Town especially. When I have seen Marc live he does not play tracks from it though, some commercial wranglings I suppose.Shame.

It is well worth getting and it is slightly more jazzy than most of his stuff of which I have them all and which in my opinion are all good.

If you are unfamiliar with his work then put your toe in and try it, you won't be disappointed.

Bottom-Line: "Modern Times" is hands down the best Marc Antoine album I have heard to date. The CD is a musical kaleidoscope, ever changing, and musically multi-lingual.

Well I am at the end of my Marc Antoine musical journey, landing on melodic runway of the guitarist's latest album "Modern Times", released in 2005 on Dave Koz's Rendezvous Entertainment label. Produced and recorded in the mold of most Contemporary Jazz albums, "Modern Times" is a busy affair wherein Antoine's guitar is not always front and center. But that as it turns out is okay, because the Paris born artists style and influence is never in doubt. The album hum with the vibe of world influences; but then again Antoine is known for featuring the sounds of the world on his albums. Each track is an inimitable, intriguing, intermingling of musical styles that give the listener just a hint of the diverse and rich music the world has to offer, and by the end I was starving for more.

Antoine is once more in the producer's chair on this his second release under the Rendezvous Entertainment umbrella; all ten tracks on "Modern Times" were produced and arranged by guitarist in league with David Ferrero. And all but one track--Sting's La Belle Dame Sans Regrets--were written or co-written by Antoine, who also plays guitar, bass, keyboards, and even lends his vocals to some of the tracks.

Said Antoine of "Modern Times", his seventh solo album, which incidentally was produced in his home studio in Madrid, Spain: "[T]here comes a time in the life of an artist when you feel in a certain space and you just have to do it. No thinking, just do it. This is that time for me." In that vein "Modern Times" is very much an ensemble endeavor with Antoine--as I mentioned above--taking up a small band of instruments himself and of course being joined by a very talented group of Jazz musicians including Manuel Machado (trumpet/flugelhorn), Bobby Martinez (tenor saxophone), Ove Larson (trombone), as well as Bobby Martinez and Phillippe Saisse on flute and piano respectively.

"Modern Times" explodes out of the starting gate with the Euro-flavored title track Modern Times, melodic piece that features Manuel Machado on trumpet/flugelhorn and of course Antoine on rhythm guitar. This first track sets the tone for turns out to be one of Antoine's most musically diverse and enjoyable CD's to date.

Whereas Modern Times is heavy on Contemporary Jazz tones, the next track Belle Via has more of a Latin feel to the rhythm and features Marc Antoine playing his trademark flamenco/jazz guitar style. The next track, La Belle Dame Sans Regrets changes direction again and features Antoine on vocals crooning in French and playing a more flamenco/jazz guitar backbeat on this Sting remake. The very next track (No.4), the very beautiful Can You Feel It, features Bobby Martinez on tenor saxophone and Antoine on acoustic guitar and bass; the combination of the three principle instruments is hypnotic.

Track No. 5 Camden Town once again features the guitar master on bass, Machado on flugelhorn and Ove Larson on trombone. The track is a deft blend of traditional and modern jazz with a little `70s disco flavoring and funk thrown in for good measure.

Cantar Al Amor, track No. 6 takes us to Arabia with its beautiful chanting and wonderful bass backbeat invoking images of honey colored veiled mistresses moving their slightly curved bellies and voluptuous hips in a harmonious, come-hither dance. The next track Umbele takes us to Africa, where once again chanting forms the centerpiece of a wonderful, upbeat piece of music featuring some amazing guitar playing. This wonderfully uplifting piece is followed by the Brazilian influenced Samba Hood (track No. 8) on which both Bobby Martinez and Phillippe Saisse make an appearance adding to the piece with great flute and piano work.

Antoine switches tracks again, traveling north to land in the American South on Shake It Out, wherein the opening vocals reminded me of the Isley Brothers at their soulful best. The last track of this multi-convenient musical trek, If You Believe, lands us squarely in the middle of the American Contemporary Jazz scene and with a little soul and blues fused into the mix.

"Modern Times" is hands down the best Marc Antoine album I have heard to date. The CD is a musical kaleidoscope, ever changing, and musically multi-lingual. The album is a must have for any Marc Antoine fan on any continent.

I purchased this CD after hearing several tracks that I really liked (Bella Via being my favorite). I've heard many tracks from various Marc Antoine CD's and he has become one of my favorite artists.

This work is clearly his best to date. Marc Antoine has come up with an interesting, complex sound that exceeds his other works. He still maintains his own artistry while adding a vibrant mix of other talented artists to his "jazz soup". Fascinating hints of Euro jazz sprinkled throughout.

Marc Antoine has always taken inspiration from around the world to create a unique style and sound. With this CD, he revisits the funkiness of some of his earlier work. As one who has listened to him for a number of years, I have a true appreciation for each and every one of the songs on this CD. It is an excellent statement of how he has evolved as an artist and come full circle. Edgy, yet still smooth. Brilliant!

This is a work of genius. It's like taking a world vacation without leaving home. It is both emotional and cinematic.

This is another outstanding cd from the French master- hands down favorite track is "Cantar Al Armor", a dynamic blending of gypsy, spanish flamenco, and middle eastern influences. If youre not moving on this one, youre dead, period. Marc Antoine, if youre reading this, know that this CD is another gem and I'd get it for Cantar Al Armor alone!

Marc Antoine is pretty much a guitar genius. This cd is extremely relaxing and smooth. I'm only a beginner in the world of jazz but this is some good stuff.