Album Review: Folk Songs, Jazz Journeys from Alex Martin
Album: Folk Songs, Jazz Journeys Artist: Alex Martin Label: Pajarito Verde Records Website: www.alexmartinmusic.com Guitarist-bandleader Alex Martin documents a personal journey through his music on his latest CD Folk Songs, Jazz Journeys . He toggles between the sounds of West Africa, America's Appalachia region, Northeast Brazil, and Celtic Europe, making an amalgam that he dubs New World Jazz. The storytelling versing in his melodies is moving, impelling listeners to open their minds to the expressive lyricism in his harmonic models. The pensive mood of "The Kudzu, the Dust, and You" spotlights the slow rocking motion of Martin's guitar chords joined by Ethan Foote's languid bass pulls and Keith Butler, Jr.'s sleek drum strikes. "Viceversa" illuminates Martin's musical setting of a Spanish-language poem by famed Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti, taking audiences to Brazil with the folkloric timbre of Martin's guitar and the island s...