Search - Saltman Knowles Quintet, Lori Williams :: It's About the Melody

It Really Is All About The Melody!

Brian Ball | Oakland, CA USA | 10/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Washington D.C. has been harboring a rich and sophisticated sound that when aurally ingested, evokes the true spirit of jazz. This is exactly what the Saltman Knowles Quintet have accomplished on their newest release It's About The Melody (featuring Lori Williams) (Blue Canoe Records, 2007), bringing forth a new way to experience the tried & true sounds that gave birth to the way of life (and musical style) we know as jazz.



Playing on the underlying subconscious (and sometimes vulnerable) human attachment to melodic verse, It's About The Melody captures the listener's spirit in an interactive and heart-felt display of love by means of music.



I am still quite amazed every now and then, when I notice how different types of music seem to affect each of us in different and unique ways.



Let me give you an example:



A much deeper and gratifying element of It's About The Melody unveiled itself to me several hours after my first listen, when I had found myself humming tunes to standout songs such as "On A Pale Star" and "What About April". I've heard no less than 250,000 different songs in my life, and still on that afternoon, I was humming along to the tune in my head at that moment, while I was preparing dinner, which happened to be "On A Pale Star".



If you enjoy jazz with character, sometimes improvisational, always sincere and forever memorable, It's About The Melody is one album you can't afford to leave out of your collection.



"It was as if the neo-archaic style of writing made an instant and everlasting imprint in my brain."--Brian Ball, Music Editor"