"Excellent choice for jazz guitar buffs."
Nicholas A. Kepics | Little Neck, New York | 09/05/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
""An album that harkens back in spirit to the great jazz albums of the `60s and `70s, Piece Offering by guitarist Nick Kepics will impress long time jazz buffs and newcomers alike. Assisted by trumpeter Blake Wallace, drummer Leon Alexander and bassist Chris Brydge, Kepics swings his way through a dozen guitar-based instrumentals and one set-closing vocal called "Dee". Musically, somewhere between smooth and modern jazz (with a strong Miles Davis influence), Kepics keeps an open ear to the future while crafting his homage to the great jazz stylists of the past. Successfully covering a wide range of jazz guitar styles, Piece Offering is swinging and reflective, tastefully melodic yet compositionally challenging. Muted trumpeter Blake Wallace is the perfect foil for Kepics' innovative electric guitar styling, making Piece Offering an excellent choice for jazz guitar buffs." -- Robert Silverstein / 20th Century Guitar Magazine"
Reminiscent of Miles Davis and Gil Evans
Nicholas A. Kepics | Little Neck, New York | 09/12/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
""While most self-produced CDs these days seem to be either rock or techno-oriented music, Nick Kepics has taken a decidedly unique turn with his self-produced CD, titled Piece Offering. For most of the album, Kepics plays a hollow bodied Ibanez jazz guitar, with a warm, clean, full tone, very much in keeping with the CD's combination of West Coast cool jazz and bossa nova-style grooves. An interesting variation to the cool jazz theme is "Lac Fantôme", with a first half that's reminiscent of some of Miles Davis and Gil Evans' tone poems on Sketches of Spain... Kepics, on the liner notes, says it was inspired by a desert mirage outside of Edwards Air Force Base. . . . . the album works very well. Like a good jazz album from the 1950s, it makes for nice background music, but rewards active listening. Kepics, while a first rate jazz guitarist, and the leader of the band, wisely goes for an ensemble feeling, giving equal weight to the other musicians in the group..." Reviewed by Ed Driscoll"
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1