Erik Deutsch: Taking Audiences To When This Was Then
T his Was Then is the ninth full-length album by pianist-composer Erik Deutsch. Its contents take audiences through picturesque dreamscapes filled with psychedelic effects, funky grooves, and quixotic imagery personified in Deutsch's ruminating piano keys. Audiences are given a glance into Deutsch's imagination, idyllic and multi-dimensional with his nimble keys layered by a pumping bass line played by Jeff HIll, simmering horns performed by reed player Mike McGinnis and trombonist Brian Drye, a soothing and rootsy slide guitar supplied by Avi Bortnick, and bolstered by the pounding drumbeats of Tony Mason. Adding more layers to the music is percussionist Mauro Refosco and Deutsch's wife Victoria Reed on vocals, giving Deutsch's music greater definition nestled beside a rhythmic stride. Deutsch cheers, "These fine musicians are all friends from my years in Brooklyn!" Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where Deutsch's journey into becoming a solo artist and leade...