Customer Reviews

When You Were Mine

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

 

 

Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's, there was a disturbing trend among some jazz artists to incorporate drum machines, sequencers and cheesy sounding sampled instruments instead of using organic instruments, possibly to lower costs. While these changes might have caused less problems personally and gave the music a 'hip' feeling, these recordings sound unbelievably dated a simple fifteen years later. On this album, Kim Pensyl attempts to cover a Babyface song with the aforementioned instrumentation, and the result fails miserably. Fortunately not every song on this CD is like this, and it is at these moments (like the wonderful 'Say You Will') that he adopts a more organic feel, thus giving this song a truly timeless quality. If you are a fan of less-than-organic jazz, feel free to purchase. Otherwise, try downloading.

I share the same appreciation for the incredible F-1 GP pilot, Ayrton Senna. I was surprised to even see his name on this CD and I'm glad that Pensyl dedicated his music to him. Senna was a revolution to the F-1 community! Now, the music. Yes, his use of electronics in this album was nostalgic in that it sounded like it was from the late 70s and early 80s. However, that doesn't change my mind of his beautiful talent. I personally think there should've been more compositions like "Don't Look Back". The chorus does resemble Spyro Gyra but it's a music filled with a lot of chord variations...my kind of music. If you want to hear his talent without the distortion of any electronics and drums, I recommend "I Can Hear You Dreaming." Excellent piece. Overall, I strictly rate a 4-star based on my personal taste. It's often the case you buy a whole album and truly fall in love with only one or two pieces. I would like Kim to continue playing and express his thoughts through his music with the world so I don't mind paying the extra for songs that didn't really vibe within me. It's all for future investment and it's all good. I recommend this album for future pianists out there who are looking for some inspiration on Crossover jazz.