Month: December 2019

Broadjam Artist: Kate Carpenter
Song: Hero in My Eyes

Reviewer: Marilyn Hall

Positive Comments: Piano and violin parts are excellent and compliment a Julie Andrews style voice wonderfully. Great remembrance piece.

Constructive Comments: No comments to improve a great song like this.

Broadjam Artist: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)
Song: Thirty Year Kiss

Reviewer: Jay Gross

Positive Comments: I was hooked in from the First note. Musically just extremely well done. Lyrically I thought they were real and from the heart. But I am a sucker for that. Certainly could be used in a film. Great Sax, and the vocals were spot on really felt the emotion. Very well done!

Constructive Comments: Not much to criticize here. I would have liked to hear a little build up at the end both musically and vocally otherwise a really nice tune!

Broadjam Artist: Janet Murphy
Song: Nothing You Can Say

Reviewer: Jay Gross

Positive Comments: A very mysterious sound musically. Sounds like a Bond Theme, Lyrics are powerful the music is very well done, commercial. Love the guitar licks, great vocals.

Constructive Comments: Really hard to give much constructive criticism. Perhaps just bring the vocals up a little over the music but overall very well done!

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: Remember to Say That I Love You / Pop Ballad

Reviewer: Jay Gross

Positive Comments: Nice guitar, pretty calming music. Could be even better with some strings and drums. I can hear some powerful lyrics behind it as well.Overall well done.

Constructive Comments: I think some strings and a more distinctive hook would lend itself to more opportunities. Certainly a chance in some film. I did enjoy the recording and I think it has some real potential. Obviously a long was to go with just guitar and no lyrics but very well done.

Broadjam Artist: Warren Hein
Song: 19 Years Piano/Acoustic Jazz Short

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Love the track… The full band surprised me when they came in, thought it was going to be a solo piano piece. I really like the playing in this track, great groove, kind of a Tango or Spanish… Western. Great simple melody. Cool little timing things, the breaks are very nice. Love the jazzy brushes, good performances, dig the bass too.

Constructive Comments: Little pops in the piano recording in the beginning, be very careful about those tiny details. Also quite a bit of distortion coming from the piano after 1 minute, sounds like it got recording too ‘hot’, the levels were too high. The low end in the recording is quite ‘undefined’. Not sure how to fix it. Maybe cut some sub loss, 60Hz in the bass and compress it (more). The bass tone maybe needed more high end attack to cut through the mix. Piano was pretty dominant and overshadowed the other instruments. Blending them in volume I think is more interesting.

Broadjam Artist: Bill Dake
Song: Money Can’t

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Pretty good recording for a live performance. Some really nice playing… very much enjoying the cornet solo. I like how the song builds and goes through feel changes. The band does a great job of making sections interesting and fresh. Drummer is very good, time is mostly solid and there is a good amount of conversation happening, certainly he’s not playing too much. Ok nice Rhodes solo in the 5 to 6 minute period. I love the energy, the band is just right… the drummer has a great groove and feel. Everybody is doing there thing magnificently.

Constructive Comments: Live recording is going to have issues, I will factor this in. Only thing that is kind of under balanced is the keyboards… and guitar. Okay the drummer starts to push the tempo pretty noticeably around 4:40, back under control around 5:10. Very acceptable for live playing. Drummer getting a little excited again in the keyboard solo, but again, not bad.

Broadjam Artist: HAWC
Song: Shhhhhhhh

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Some cool sounds in this track… palate is very industrial and robotic. Sweet melodies throughout, love the string sound at 1:30. The most creative approach I have heard on Broadjam in a long time. My favorite parts are the melodies and thoughtful comping on the pad. Great bridge at 4:00, love the fat jazz chords!

Constructive Comments: My only drawback is all the samples and loops. You use them very well… the buzz sound maybe for my taste was featured too much. I come from a more traditional instrumental based music camp… my ear prefers a sax, trumpet or flute over a heavy synth. The jazz here is in the chords, the changes were amazing!

Broadjam Artist: Greg Johnson
Song: Got a Feelin’

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Wow, sounds amazing right away… the performances and production are very good. I love the drum track, top notch! Bass is sold and the big band sound just wonderful. Catchy song, by the second verse I am whistling along… very Barry Manilow which is a gift to this writer. accompaniment is great, just love the overall sound.

Constructive Comments: There is something about the mix that I not in love with but I cannot put my finger on it. Maybe the vocal is too dry… and too up front. With the lead vocal so dry and up in the mix makes it stick out too much, pull it back a little bit and it will blend better with the band. Plus the band is under mixed especially the woodwinds… saxes need to be heard more, pump the band with those saxes. It’s a good blend but for me, the vocal is too far out front and the ‘big band’ needs to be featured more. 2nd verse the muted trumpets are all over the saxes imo. Some noise at 1:49 in the break (probably the vocalist… ‘lip smack’)… try to hear those little nuances and mute (fix) them.

Broadjam Artist: Chuck Standish
Song: On The Ten

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Nice funky beat… I like the full synth sounds and the drum groove is groovy. Lots of live tracks, love that. Nice guitar work. Complex melody and there are a lot of notes but everything sounds in place. Unexpected breakdown worked its way back to the melody pretty smoothly. Nice drumming and guitar work, synth is my favorite part though. Give the bass player some, this song is not short on ideas… I almost want to hear a stop time with a drum solo. And there it is! For me, this is more funk than jazz.

Constructive Comments: Mix is a little out of balance. Seems like things come and go, like at one point the drums will be good then they get lost. The arrangement although very creative may have been a bit much. Maybe the more I listen, the more I will be able to absorb all the changes. We make music to please ourselves, hence all the variety. I dig the shit outta the funk! Thank you!

Broadjam Artist: Barry Osbourn
Song: Shine On

Reviewer: Jeff Ashbaker

Positive Comments: Well play guitar instrument. Nice intertwining of the different guitars and other instruments.

Constructive Comments: Might have been good to have another lead instrument for variety?