jazz2love

Album:  Our April Tigers Artist:  Michael Whalen Label:  MWM/Spout (Six Degrees Distribution/InGrooves) Website:  https://www.michaelwhalen.com When singer-songwriter Yoko Ono made a guest appearance on the 1990's TV sitcom Mad About You, she requested that the documentary filmmaker Paul Buchman, played by Paul Reiser, create a film about the wind.  Bandleader Michael Whalen has not made a film about the wind but he has certainly made a recording that from the listener's viewpoint sonically illustrates the movements the wind, putting into a tangible form what the wind communicates from what it sees.  Imagine the wind in the role of an observer of the temporal world, and the audience is hearing what this observer sees and communicates using music as its form of expression. Whalen's latest offering Our April Tigers projects such a sonic imagery laden in thought-provoking symphonies that audiences will relate to the sounds of nature from the voices of its eth...

Album:  Imaginary Trains Artist: Michael Whalen Label:  MWM/Spout label through Six Degrees Distribution/INgrooves/UMG Website:  www.michaelwhalen.com Imaginary Trains , the latest CD from keyboardist Michael Whalen is a diverse compilation of evolving soundscapes and ambient passages.  From the Hot Chip's-like sci-fi sebrings of "Against the Sky" to the smooth ruminating phrases of "Across the World To Be With You" featuring vocalist Ricky Kej, Whalen's melodic sequences create imaginary vistas that delight the mind and stimulate the aural senses. The tranquilizing soundwaves of "My Immortal Beloved" attribute human-like traits to digitally composed music, producing roving waves that crest and slope.  The music gives the illusion of traveling, evolving from one melodic pattern to the next while continually engaging the listener. Gently lit flickers are sprinkled along "The Wayward Sun" froth in fomenting rattles and fizzles, creating an ...

Album:  Future Shock Artist:  Michael Whalen Label: Spout/MWM Website:  https://www.michaelwhalen.com Jazz fusion meets progressive rock and electronica on Michael Whalen's new release Future Shock .  Comprised of all original compositions arranged and written by Whalen, the recording sizzles, sambas, and plumes, continuously delighting listeners. The Latin facets in Bob Magnuson's flute and shehnai coruscate gracefully across "La Hermosa Noche" while laced in Whalen's spangled synth effects, filament by a samba rhythm played by bassist Tony Levin and drummer Simon Phillips.  The toasty warm atmosphere continues with Magnuson's silky saxophone twirls cruising along "Lights of Home," projecting a vibe reminiscent of Kenny G's sensual furls, as Whalen's glittering synths swaddle the melody in beads of starlight.  Displaying a flare for creating romantic moods, Whalen's arrangement  for "Morning Song" shines with a love story luste...