Search - Jazz Mandolin Project :: Deep Forbidden Lake

Jamie Masefield changes it up

Alana | NYC, NY | 05/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Its a surprising shift of gears for the Jazz Mandolin Project to tackle an album like this. Different from their last album, Jungle Tango (2003), (laden with jungle grooves and improvisation), Jamie Masefield heads in a fresh, acoustic direction in this new release.

The track listing -

1. Winterlong (Neil Young)

2. Ol' 55 (Tom Waits)

3. Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

4. Tears (Django Reinhardt)

5. Peace (Horace Silver)

6. Everything in its Right Place (Radiohead)

7. My Little Brown Book (Billy Strayhorn)

8. Tom Traubert's Blues (Tom Waits)

9. Black and White (Django Reinhardt)

10. I Will (Radiohead)

11. The Deep Forbidden Lake (Neil Young)

12. When Will the Blues Leave (Ornette Coleman)



means theres something on it for everyone. Speaking more of thoughtful melodies and arrangements than grooves and exploration, this CD shows a whole new side to Masefield's mandolin playing. Performed in a setting unlike any previous Jazz Mandolin Project album, The Deep Forbidden Lake is an acoustic, lyrical cd with an unusual pairing of renowned musicians.



Here, the mandolin is accompanied by the piano and accordion of Gil Goldstein, who also joined Masefield on Jungle Tango. Gil has performed and/or arranged music with Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius and in 2004 won a Grammy for his arranging and producing on Michael Brecker's album Wide Angles. Greg Cohen, who has also performed with a varied host of musical luminaries including Ornette Coleman, Tom Waits, John Zorn and Bill Frisell, completes the trio on upright bass.

"

Candlelight music from diverse torches......

collegemoney | 05/29/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, now what instrumental aggregation would choose to create a work with two cover recordings each by Neil Young, Tom Waits, Django Reinhart and Radiohead? Then round off with a little Ornette Coleman, Leonard Cohen, Billy Strayhorn and Horace Silver?

The music is cleanly and beautifully recorded. The timbre of the instruments is conveyed so clearly you will swear you can hear the placing of fingers on the fretboards. Crystalline. A calm lake surface is indeed the perfect metaphor.

Unlike their eponymous CD, there is no percussion here and, perhaps correspondingly, the pace is more relaxed. The likelihood that any given listener will be familiar enough with ALL the authors to "pick up" on many of these melodies is rather remote. For example, this is not "Southern Man" or "Heart of Gold" era Neil Young. So you will perhaps be enticed to seek out the originals, to see where the inspiration in these tunes came from."