Album Review: Tiptoes from Max Highstein

Album:  Tiptoes
Artist:  Max Highstein
Website:  www.MaxHighsteinMusic.com

Audiences will recognize there is a familiarity about Max Highstein's music.  Like these are tunes that have come into their lives before while they are standing on line in a store, sitting in a doctor's waiting room, eating dinner at an upscale restaurant, or watching a TV show or commercial.  His latest outing Tiptoes is clad with music that generates a casual feel with its warm temperament and blissful aesthetics palatable for the general public's consumption. 

Highstein has been perceived as a New Age artist, and Tiptoes's attributes fit the genre's criteria.  But the music is more overarching, owning traits emblematic of ambient jazz, sonic pop, soft rock, and R&B/soul.  Simply put, Highstein's music is a melting pot of influences that appeals to all types of societies.  The swirling notes of Highstein's sax are nestled alongside Ed Willett's furling cello coasting along "The Weaver's Tale," producing a steady stream of serene currents as every vessel is woven tightly together.

The grooving beats lining "Toe Trucker" are skewed with an R&B/soul tint, giving the music a smoky Memphis mist.  The recording moves into a sonic pop dew in "Path of the Heart" as Rusty Crutcher's solo on the saxophone and Highstein's solo on piano wheedle a romantic hue through the calming soundscape.  Branching out further, the title track is a playful melody shaping a brisk, comfy strut in Highstein's clarinet tweets as the rhythmic beats of Mark Clark's percussion spangle the track with a fluster of gyrating chimes.  The samba sway of Highstein's saxophone in "The Listener" alternate between ascending and receding as Willett's cello sprinkles the melody with a carousal of glittering specks.

A multi-instrumentalist, Max Highstein's original compositions are classic pop standards on their own.  His blend of musical influences are coalesced into warm and blissful arrangements, palatable for the general public's consumption.  His music is familiar without being mundane, a quality that only well-versed crossover artists achieve.  Highstein's music is one of a kind.

Musicians:
Max Highstein - soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, clarinet, piano, organ, and fretless bass
Ed Willett - cello
Jeff Pevar - guitar
John Yoakum - flute
Rusty Crutcher - alto and tenor saxophone on "Path Of The Heart"
Mark Clark - drum kit, udu, doumbek, and congas