Search - Kyle Hollingsworth :: Never Odd Or Even

Strong solo debut

Karl W. Rehn | Austin, Texas | 01/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a keyboard player and a String Cheese Incident fan I was excited when I first heard about this album. I've always put Kyle in the same league as Bill Payne of Little Feat: bringing a jazz influence to a country/blues band. As I listened to the album a list of influences kept growing: late 70's/early 80's fusion like the Yellowjackets and Jeff Lorber, Martin Medeski and Wood funk/jazz, the Byrne/Eno collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Little Feat, Jimmy Smith, Herbie Hancock, and the Jeff Beck instrumental albums from the middle to late 70's, with some "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" and techno/electronica mixed in.



The best way to listen to this album is to play the whole thing, in sequence, without a break. The songs neatly flow into each other with start and end pieces that bookend the whole set. The album is mostly instrumental: funky, jazzy, fusion-y tunes heavy on riffs and solos and grooves. The playing by everyone is solid and tight, and the writing, or perhaps more accurately the arranging, is clever. Lots of little kicks and interludes and time changes to prevent the tunes from falling into the two-chord vamp w/ solos rut.



Even though its a solo record Kyle shares the stage with the others on the CD - in fact my only criticism of it is that he doesn't feature himself enough. It showcases his writing and arranging and the ensemble playing of the band very well.



Overall this is a very strong debut that remains interesting after multiple listens. Definitely recommended."

All other band members should do this

Viktor V | GMU | 02/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"NEVER ODD OR EVEN is quite a debut from Kyle Hollingsworth, the keyboardist for The String Cheese Incident. He blends in lots of keyboard sounds with some sounds of jazz, funk, trip-rock, and some other genres. Other members in his band should do something like this if they decide to release a solo or something. It takes a while for the listener to get used to the sound because it does not sound much like string cheese incident. However, if you're a string cheese fan, you should check this album out."

Awesome

John Frist | Kansas | 07/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is definitely a strong solo album from Kyle Hollingsworth. Kyle has assembled a good group of musicians and the guest artists are used perfectly. Robert Randolph and Yvonne Brown work beautifly on the slow blues "The Bridge," defintiely a highlight of the album. Joshua Redman's guest work on sax makes "The Crusade" and "!Bam!" is also astounding.

This album is similar to the String Cheese Incident album Untying the Not (Which I from what I understand was made at about the same time) in that the middle tracks are very electronic sounding and they all segue into each other, but this album is a lot better than that one.

I love this album because it's not afraid to experiment with different styles. "The Crusade" "!Bam!" and "Seventh Step" play around with jazz and funk, "The Bridge" is gospel blues, "Gigawatt" is prog rock, "Not Yet" is dark Latin Jazz, and "Boo-Boo's Pik-a-Nik" is country bluegrass. Kyle's keyboard solos are great, I just wish there were more of them. Even though Kyle stays in the background more than I would like, he did a great job arranging the pieces and creating a work that's diverse but fluid. This is a great album, better than either of the String Cheese Incident's two previous studio releases. I hope this is the first of many Kyle Hollingsworth solo albums."