Project Grand Slam - The Queen’s Carnival

Wed, 31 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Typically operating as five piece, Project Grand Slam, led by bassist and composer Robert Miller, plays like a much larger band. They have somehow managed to balance a muscular sound while maintaining a firm control over the material and never pushing anything to an overwrought level. The production on their fourth album The Queen’s Carnival is every bit as immaculate as their preceding releases and captures a remarkably live sound despite the occasionally spontaneity crushing atmosphere of a recording studio. Like previous releases, Project Grand Slam maintains a primarily instrumental focus and the album’s eleven tracks never have a moment of filler or run too long. This is a masterfully composed work, never uncertain of itself, and has an overarching sense of construction not typically heard on works from its musical area. In some senses, it is a throwback to the way albums were written and recorded during Miller’s formative years, but Project Grand Slam’s music and presentation are thoroughly modern sounding in every way.

The Ann Wilson Thing - Focus #2 (EP)

Wed, 31 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

The Ann Wilson Thing - Focus #2 (EP)

URL: https://www.theannwilsonthing.com/

It’s bracing to hear artists from Ann Wilson’s generation who truly embody the phrase age is just a number. No talk here about Ann defying her age. The same passion and skill defining her career is in full effect on her latest solo release, an EP entitled Focus #2. Wilson is not bashful about acknowledging her influences and admiration for contemporaries. Focus #2 features a little of that with her covers of Jimi Hendrix and Peter Gabriel. Both are stellar, but the real attraction for long time Wilson fans likely lies in the two new original compositions featured on the release. The four tracks compromising Focus #2 are recorded with great care and the live songs, both of the covers, do fantastic jobs of capturing a wildly supportive live audience who Wilson and her band clearly feed off of. This is a release that doesn’t deserve to fly under your radar despite its relatively brief link – every song here is a home run.

2016/08 on Da Hip Hop Place

Project Grand Slam - The Queen’s Carnival

The Ann Wilson Thing - Focus #2 (EP)