CDREVIEWS
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday February 26, 2010
the dilworthsINTRODUCING... (Jazzgroove)The Dilworths are further proof that Sydney bristles with exceptional young jazz musicians. They also prove that becoming very accomplished musicians is only a staging post on the journey to being true artists. Trumpeter Eamon Dilworth's compositions are varied and encourage engaging improvisation, while his playing is suitably fiery and pensive, searing and spacious. He has a fine band in saxophonist Karl Laskowski, pianist Hugh Barrett, bassist Alex Boneham and drummer Cameron Reid. What is missing is a sense that the music is based on anything more than other music loved and assimilated; a sense of the stakes being immeasurably high, rather than high-calibre craft. But that may come, so stay tuned.John Shandthe hipstonesdreamers (Vitamin)Their press material describes the New York-based Australian duo of Mark Palmer and Anthea White as a cross between Sharon Jones and Camera Obscura, which may be a tad ambitious. The Hipstones are more like a cross between gentle '70s soul and George Benson playing with the Manhattan Transfer, blending the kind of jazzy R&B that inevitably is called sophisticated with creamy vocal layers, implied lushness and none-more-smooth curves. It's a style that in the right hands, say Luther Vandross, can be stylish and sexy, and Palmer and White sometimes get there in songs such as Lost Again. But it's also a style that can be a little too near the old Hilton Hotel cabaret room and there's too many such songs here for real satisfaction.Bernard Zuelgrant hartHOT WAX (Fuse)The influence of Husker Du's string of alternative touchstones in the 1980s can be heard each time bands such as Green Day embrace the pompous. Similarly, Hot Wax, Grant Hart's third solo album since the band disbanded in 1988, itself shows the affinity for 1960s rock and pop the drummer/songwriter so often indulged across Husker Du's albums. Opening track You're the Reflection of the Moon on the Water is pure Doors in its booming baritone and keyboards, while echoes of David Bowie, the Beatles and the Kinks pervade the rest of the record. While enjoyable, it is for this reason that it amounts to an album that is very easy to listen to but more difficult to admire.James Polson
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