Customer Reviews

Since Forever (Dig)

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Quality and consistency rather than say manufactured quantity are certainly hallmarks of Fred Simon's work. Nearly five years after the release of "Remember the River", Fred has again teamed up with Steve Rodby on bass and Paul McCandless on a variety of wind instruments to produce "Since Forever", this time adding Mark Walker from Oregon on drums & percussion. The addition of Walker definitely adds a new layer of colour to Simon's work & as an example Walker gets a thoroughly excellent workout on the rollicking & delightful "Simple Psalm".
Overall the mood is generally relaxed, although often up tempo & certainly propulsive in places. Simon himself penned all of the compositions except for a respectful rendition of "In a Silent Way" dedicated to both Joe Zawinul & Miles Davis & each of the tunes demonstrate a superb grasp of melody & ensemble writing backed up by excellent performances, once again especially from McCandless. Indeed if I was to have a slight "criticism" of both "Since Forever" & "Remember the River" it's that Simon maybe allows McCandless to be a little "too" dominant and doesn't give himself as much solo space as his obvious talent deserves. Often the format is Simon following McCandless rather than the other way around - indeed check out the excellent & a-typical "Way of Seeing" as proof that in the context of this album "less" of McCandless can actually be "more" for the overall effect when McCandless finally DOES let fly is especially dynamic. Perhaps even a solo piano piece somewhere on the album wouldn't go astray either!
Nevertheless another very highly rewarding album from Fred Simon well worth checking-out.