Month: August 2016

Broadjam Artist: FRED GROSS
Song: I Will Prove You Wrong (female vocals)

Reviewer: Till

Positive Comments: I do like the feel of the song and the bridge (nice!).Lyrics are hard to understand – too bad. They are drowned out a bit by the music.

Constructive Comments: I will definitely listen more of your music – really like the feel!

Broadjam Artist: Chet Nichols
Song: I’m The Ice Cream Man (was #1 Broadjam: Blues)

Reviewer: Till

Positive Comments: Really fantastic song! Love it!!

Constructive Comments: The lead vocals are a bit drowned out by the music but hey – minor detail.

Broadjam Artist: Erin Krebs
Song: I See You

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: The playing all around is excellent – great drummer! The vocalist is very good as well…nice scat chorus! It’s also very well recorded and mixed.

Constructive Comments: I would’ve liked to hear a full chorus or two of the vocalist and maybe a chorus for the bass to build some energy before going into the trading fours. Of course the melody/soloing structure in mainstream jazz is extremely well-worn and my suggestion could make it sound cliched, but the shortness of this song makes it come across like a demo. If it was planned to be shorter, I will say the melody is memorable.

Broadjam Artist: Marc S. Pate
Song: Hana II

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: I love the groove, the harmonic elements, and the instrumentation! Very good writing on this. It reminds me of Donald Fagan’s solo stuff (especially that New Frontier-ish bass line) I like the texture of the Rhodes and the chorus on the guitar. The solos and playing in general are very good as well. I love endings that are unpredictable, and this certainly fits the bill, ending on a V chord.

Constructive Comments: The melodic hook seems a little too rhythmic for my tastes, but that’s just my opinion. Besides that, sounds great!

Broadjam Artist: RICARDO ALONSO
Song: Yakatajazz

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: it has a lot of elements of a good piano shuffle. The groove is pretty tight and the walking bass, line along with the drums, gives it some energy. The piano is stylistically appropriate as well.

Constructive Comments: The quality of sounds are by far the biggest drawback to this recording. The piano sounds like an 80’s version of piano that I hear in smooth jazz recordings, and the drums are pretty bad. The bass is at least tolerable compared to the drums and piano, but not good either. It’s certainly not a knock on your musicianship, though, and if you have no budget, it’s understandable. But I would pull this song off until you can afford an upgrade because it sounds that bad. I use Apple Logic Pro X ($200) and get a much better quality of sounds plus a pretty good DAW.In my opinion, the arrangement could use some more structure. The intro is too long, or it needs more variety leading up to the melody. The brass stabs a minute into it don’t really suggest any kind of cadence or phrase ending. There are a number of stop-time moments that seem to sit there, and I don’t hear any thought on how to transition from that back into the melody. It needs more thought regarding tying the sections together.

Broadjam Artist: David Austin
Song: LAZY DAY IN PARIS

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: It’s obviously a seasoned guitar player playing the lead lines and the drummer does a good job of laying down a nice feel. The minimal instrumentation is nice as well.

Constructive Comments: The guitar needs remixing – I hear heavy treble throughout and overtones on the cutoffs of the chords. Sometimes I hear a duple rhythm from the guitar. Sometimes it sounds intentional and sometimes it doesn’t. Overall, the guitar feel comes off as a little loose and in one or two places out of sync.

Broadjam Artist: Randy Calligan
Song: Hundredth Valentine

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: Overall, a great arrangement! Really good sense of momentum and development in starting with piano, adding vocals, then adding light drums and vocal harmony. The bridge section after the second verse is a nice harmonic change and the fade out is really nice. There seems to be a lot of attention paid to melodic elements and song structure. Well recorded and mixed as well!

Constructive Comments: I’m not particularly fond of the vocalist’s tone – it sounds somewhat strained during the opening lines and scratchy throughout. I do like the tone during the bridge and towards the end, however, and of course my opinion is just my opinion. There aren’t any glaring weaknesses in the song that I hear, just personal preferences.

Broadjam Artist: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)
Song: Generations

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: Great percussion feel throughout! The vocalist has a soulful, smooth delivery that really adds to the vibe. It sounds like the percussion is live and the drums are programmed, which I don’t have a problem with. However they’re recorded, they work very well together. The keyboard sound is great for this texture and the piano weaves in and out effectively. The vocal harmony is appropriate, as is the guitar solo. The whole package is recorded and mixed/mastered very well.

Constructive Comments: Anything I offer here is just personal preference and not necessarily from a desire to address weaknesses. I like a snare drum with tighter snares, and possibly higher pitched for something like this, and maybe more percussion throughout, although the places where djembe (or doumbek?) is added are effective. Maybe more reverb on the backup vocals? The place where the song abruptly stops before the next verse caught my attention. If it was intentional, cool! If not, there are certainly a number of ways to make that transition, although there seems to be thought given to providing space in this song. Just my two cents, take it or leave it. I love the song! It sounds similar to Incognito, who I also love.

Broadjam Artist: Chet Nichols
Song: Capitola Cliffs (Instrumental – from “Peak To Peak))

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: The song sounds pretty well recorded and has a sort of Santana feel to it with the organ melody and percussion. The groove is pretty tight and I like your percussion instrument choices.

Constructive Comments: It needs more variety in texture. The pad, organ, and percussion are always present throughout, although the percussion sound varies somewhat from section A to B. Maybe add pad later or take it out in sections? Even though it sounds like you’re going for a laid-back vibe, you may benefit from adding light drum set later in the song to build momentum. The quality of electronic instruments needs an upgrade as well to lend more of an authentic sound to the song.

Broadjam Artist: Brenda Craven
Song: Brenda’s Swagger

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: The overall vibe of the song is great, and I like the harmonic and voicing ideas in the electric keyboard. The overall groove feels pretty good as well.

Constructive Comments: The biggest improvement needed is in the drums. I can’t really nail down if it’s programmed or electric kit…it sounds like a little of both. Either way they don’t sound particularly authentic. I would suggest programming drums or use something like Apple Logic Pro X drummers (not sure if there’s a Cubase or ProTools equivalent). The piano melody of the song sounds like it’s improvised – maybe work on a more structured melody that’s more singable and then improvise off that.