Customer Reviews

Urban Vacation

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

 

 

This was an awesome discovery for me when I was looking through the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" list near the bottom of the page of another CD that I was interested in.

But this album is a litte bit different than the other contemporary jazz albums that I have. It's a little more jazzy in sound and in style, however, there's a fun and joyful quality throughout this album. Also, I always get in a good mood while listening to this album.

But if you're not familiar with the music of this album, check out the Samples to see if it would be something that you would like.

Put the Yellowjackets' bassist Jimmy Haslip and keyboardist/composer/producer Jeff Lorber on your team, and you've laid the groundwork for a jazz classic. That's exactly what native Norwegian/L.A. based sax man Terje Lie (say "Terry Lee") has done for his latest solo release, URBAN VACATION. Hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed TRAVELER album, Lie has definitely cranked it up a whole lotta notches for this killer collection of ten amazing tunes, all but one of which were written by Terje, Jimmy, and/or Jeff. The one cover is an awesome treatment of the Roy Ayers Ubiquity classic "Red, Black and Green." Oh, yeah! This could easily end up being one of the top contemporary jazz albums of 2010. So let's break it down... Terje Lie's smokin' sax, Jimmy Haslip, and Jeff Lorber producing and playing and ten tracks of uber-hip, tasty fusion funk. What's not to love about URBAN VACATION?! When was the last time you vacationed? ~SCOTT O'BRIEN

This product was reccomended by Amazon. After listening to samples, I knew I had to purchase the CD. I was not disappointed. I had never heard of Terje Lie before, but thanks to reccomendations I get due to the music I've purchased before, I will keep an eye open for any more of his music

His first album "Traveler" was a sign of things to come and make no mistake, Terje Lie's "Urban Vacation" is the confirmation without a trace of a doubt. This amazing sax player this time around teamed up with two of the most celebrated contemporary jazz musicians: Jeff Lorber and Jimmy Haslip. The partnership produced one fascinating album filled with fresh harmonies, energetic grooves and outstanding solos. All originals (except Roy Ayer's classic "Red Black and Green") and written by the three of them, recreate the sound of a unique vibe. Songs like "Bail Out" and "Parlophone" take the listener to the magic energy of "groove jazz" at its best. All the tracks display an impecable level of musicianship with awesome arrangements and technically perfect solos by Terje, Lorber and Haslip. Production and mix are wonderfully handled by the same Jeff Lorber. The crew is a world class session: Tony Moore on drums, Gary Meek saxophone and Ron King trumpet with superb guests like Mike Landau (guitar), Jeff Olson (drums), Ernest Tibbs (bass), Dwight Sills (guitar) and Sharon Perry (vocals). Beyond contemporary jazz, beyond funk, beyond fussion, this is the arrival of groove jazz and Terje Lie is leading the movement with this remarkable work.

Teerje Lie is hard to spell, but oh so easy to listen to.
With polished production by Jeff Lorber and Jimmy Haslip, this CD hits the funky pocket with "Bail Out" and "Parlophone", two outstanding tracks that feature Lie's superb phrasing in a bouncy funky setting.

Definitely worth adding to your collection, and discovering if you haven't heard this artist before!

I may be the last guy in the country still buying CD's instead of downloading all my music. Because of that, when I'm listening to a good CD like "Urban Vacation", I'll come to the only vocal track and have to forward on to the next track. In this case "Red, Black and Green" comes out of nowhere...it seemed like filler music and a waste of time...and frankly mars an otherwise excellent recording. Terje Lie is a terrific smooth jazz sax player and on "Urban Vacation" you get the extra bonus of Jeff Lorber and Jimmy Haslip (who co-produced this recording)that add their own talents and styles. I'll go on record as saying I love Lorber's music, but have recently avoided buying his CD's because of multiple vocal tracks. When are these smooth jazz guys going to finally understand that adding vocal tracks just doesn't work? Lose the vocals, please!