Search - David Kikoski :: Lighter Way

An eclectic river of sound

Mark Mohr | Spokane, WA United States | 08/17/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I heard a track from this CD played on a local college radio station and felt compelled to call in and ask about Dave Kikoski. I had never heard of him before which, considering his vast experience as a leader and a sideman, was my fault. Given the brief audio sample snippets available online, I was really eager to hear the entire CD. I found it a mixed bag. The good tunes were really, really good and the average tunes were a little confusing. First, let me say that this group (David Kikoski-piano & synth, Ed Howard-bass, Victor Lewis -drums) are all virtuoso players. This CD is the antithesis of "smooth jazz." It's musically very open minded:



Track One: Blanket of Byrd: after a promising solo piano opening that is reminiscent of Liz Story it morphs into something heavy handed with too much synthesized and electric piano.



Track Two: Grey Area: a strong, percussive piece featuring electric piano with echoes of Chick Corea's "500 Miles High".



Track Three: Wanting and Waiting: a much deeper melody where Ed Howard seems to channel Eddie Gomez at the heights of his powers.



Track Four: Joyous: Much more vibrant and upbeat. Hard driving with tints of McCoy Tuner and the energy and grooves of Steps Ahead. If I heard this tune performed in a club, I would have stood up and applauded at the end. It should have been the first cut on the CD.



Track 5: Lighter Way & Track Six: Florence's Reverie: much slower tracks that calm things down and really make you think and reflect.



Track Seven: Stigmata: Great title but the piece itself is flipped out with too much aggressive energy that brings to mind Weather Report of the Jaco Pastorius/Joe Zawinul era. Too crazy!



Track Eight: Variation 1. The longest piece on the CD at 8:01. A beautiful, reflective piece.



All in all, although there is some wonderful music on this CD there are also a few disappointments. I will, however, use this as a springboard to discover other work by this bold piano player."