Search - Gerard Presencer :: Optimist

Sounds like smooth jazz . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

". . . but it's not. There are several reasons it might be mistaken for smooth jazz. First, it employs lots of electric instrumentation and is very melodic. Second, Presencer has a very eclectic background in funk, pop, and fusion, having recorded with Charlie Watts, James Brown, Sting, Ray Charles, and others, and these influences (not inappropriately) leak through the music. But he grew up listening to Clifford Brown and Miles, and along the way acquired some serious jazz chops on flugel horn, so there's a lot more backbone in this music than in jazz lite. Indeed, it's intriguing to listen to his hip, intelligent soloing in this musically pop-cultural melange.There are really no exact analogs to this music, but it bears a resemblence to a couple of songs ("U. B. The Monster" and "The Hipster") on Metalwood's brilliant disc The Recline, although Presencer's approach is generally not that funky. It also resembles some things from Voodoo Dogs, the great eponymous disc from Bob Ward and Larry Goldings, esp. "The Birth of Life," although, again, it's not that funky (but Presencer can pull out the funk moves very effectively when he wants, as on "Patchy Sunshine").The overall vibe is more along the lines of Silent Singing, a very pleasant disc by Steve Tavaglione, or, even more so, Steve Erquiaga's brilliant fusion disc, Erkiology. Not really "jazztronica," e.g., Sonic Trance from Nicholas Payton or Freak-In from Dave Douglas or Largo from Brad Mehldau, The Optimist instead is very accomplished modern British jazz-pop-funk. 4 and 1/2 stars."