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CRITICS ON: SOUL EXPRESS Anyway, other statements that this is the album that Maxwell should have made are also astute commentary. Maxwell would do well on these grooves. Warren Rosenstein, Marlon Saunders and John Pondel have woven a rich tapestry here for the listeners to ensconce themselves in. It is warm, luscious and immensely satisfying. One of my albums for my pending holiday, in fact! Soul Brother have done the decent thing and given the set an UK release, and more power to them for it, too. For those of you who love rich, real instrumentation and smooth, soulful vocals this album is a must for you. The feel of this album has a comfortably sedate 1970s feel and this suits Marlon’s gorgeous vocals down to a tee. His performance is exemplary throughout but he really does the business on tracks such as "All The Ways" and "Lowdown". I have to single out "Lowdown" for particular praise. I do not usually care for cover versions and they have to really hit the mark for me to take note of them. Boy, do they do a great job on this Boz Scaggs classic. I am so reminded of Ronnie McNeir, and even Eric Benét in this performance. Both musically and vocally the song is first class, absolutely first class. The warm keys are dominant and tantalizingly jazzy. Jazzhole handle a whole plethora of styles here and prove that they are masters of their craft, whether it be a soulful tempo, a funky number, something jazzy or even dipping into Samba. Check the insistent and scratchy groove of "Jonesing"…the tempo at odds with Marlon’s more relaxed, unhurried vocal. It’s a great aural juxtaposition that works very well. The funkier snare of "One More Time" lays a sexier pathway for Marlon to raise his game and deliver his magic, and prepares us for the gorgeously exotic "It Would Have Been Enough" which features the sultry vocals of Michal Cohen. This really is a gem and is on repeat play here at home. The more melancholy "The Slipping Of Time" is another treat and supplemented by the groovier and aptly titled "Timeless". This is nearly 8 minutes of jazzy soul heaven rich in percussion and wah wah guitar. Oh, I wish there were more albums around of this standard. Please do not overlook this album. A great album on a great label from a hugely talented band. More, more, more! SOULTRACKS.COM
SAVE OUR SOUL The title track is a beautiful instrumental but as soon as the first notes from the second track "All The Ways" begins you're sold. The soulful voice of Marlon Saunders embedded in the warm velvet grooves that his fellow musicians are producing is so enchanting. Pure, raw, smooth and emotional but always in control it must be a blessing to have such a voice. What you'll discover to is the saxophone played by Dave Binney on the songs "Poet's Walk and "Jonesing". Eight out of the ten tracks of Poet's Walk are written by Jazzhole. There's also a nice interpretation of Boz
Scaggs "Dirty Lowdown" on this album. A song like "The Slipping Of Time"
where Marlon is only accompanied on guitar is beauty at it's best.
Another element that makes this album such a nice experience to listen
to is the variety in music. Moments of excitement and suspense are
altered with spells of relaxation in this poetical urban music
landscape. ECHOES FM MAGAZINE BEATS AND RANTS I also treasure the fact that Jazzhole are truly a GREAT live band as well. In the last few years, crooner Marlon Saunders has been part of the fold and has given the group its soulful sound. Their latest CD, Poet's Walk, was recently released in the U.K. and will hit U.S. stores on July 11. Poet's Walk is a great collection of wonderful jazz-soul music. It's a perfect album for the summertime. I will write a more detailed music review and post it on my blog Beats and Rants near or around the July 11 release date. In the meantime, check out a few selections from Poet's Walk, right HERE. My Favorites: The excellent remake of Boz Skaggs’s "Lowdown," the tender ballad "The Slipping of Time" and the smooth jazz sounds of "Timeless." JUSTSOUL.NET Matthew: Hi Warren, thanks for doing this interview. How do you feel about the new album? Jazzhole: Matthew - I am very
excited about the new album. Most of the recording was done live in the
studio, and the collaboration and energy were fantastic. Jazzhole: Good question, and hard one to give a short answer to! Influences from today would be Me'Shelle, Maxwell, D'Angelo... Many more from childhood - my musical taste was really forged in the late 60's and early 70's, so there was an incredible melting pot of music to listen to: Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Rolling Stones, Earth Wind & Fire, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Teddy Pendergrass, Spinners - really too many to list. Matthew: Tell us about each of the band members? Jazzhole: Marlon has been my partner and collaborator for many years. We met in a recording studio in the late 80's, and found we had so much music in common. He has so much range, both as a singer and a musician. Beyond that he is a great friend, and so much of what makes Jazzhole special to me is the friendship and the trust. The creative process can be very fragile and sensitive, and Marlon is so special in his ability to encourage others to express themselves, and take little fragments of ideas that others in the group have, and make them into something really worthwhile. John Pondel is our guitarist, as well as one of the producers and writers. John cut his teeth on the studio scene in L.A., and came out to New York to live around 1990. He has a great sense of feel, and space, and so much of the harmonic sense of the music comes from him. What I think is most unique in John's playing is his sense of being true to the song. He never plays to show off what he can do, but rather, just to tell the story in the truest, realest way he can. Mark Robohm is our drummer, who is from Burlington, VT. Like John, and really all the players in Jazzhole, his spirit is very pure, and true to the music. His sense of space, and leaving room for the song to come through is unique, and his taste in what he plays and what he leaves out really makes the record. Mark was one of the founding members of Belizbeha, and plays with a variety of bands in NYC. Dave Inniss is our bassist, and has been with the group longer than anyone other than Marlon, John and myself. The moment Dave joined us, we knew he was the right fit. Dave is all about feel, and making the songs just sit in the right place. Like many people in Jazzhole, Dave has played countless shows in NYC, and knows what it takes to make a song move, and feel right. Danny Sadownick is one of our percussionists, and is one of the most exceptional musicians I have ever met. Peter Mark also plays percussion, and is a long-time group member. Pete has played in virtually every club in Manhattan, and was one of the founders of the Lower East Side music scene in NYC. David Sancious played keyboards, and is a virtual legend, having played with Stanley Clarke, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and dozens of other noteworthy acts. What was most exciting about working with David was his humility, and beautiful vibe. We felt a little intimidated, based on his incredible body of work, but the moment he stepped into the studio, we felt his love, and support, and the collaboration was just magical. Dave Binney has been a longtime contributor, and added some wonderful saxophone, and newcomer (to Jazzhole) Michal Cohen adder her lovely voice to "It Would Have Been Enough". Matthew: You have a very big discography, when did you start making music? When did you decide to form Jazzhole? Jazzhole: I grew up making music. My big brother (Glenn Rosenstein) had tape recorders in the house as far back as I can remember. My poor parents had to deal with not using the bathroom most of the time, because we were using it as an echo chamber, to record singers. We formed Jazzhole in 1992, when we realized we were playing on and engineering so many other people's records, that we may as well do one for ourselves, where we would have our own creative control. Matthew: Do any of the members from Jazzhole, including you; have other creative talents? Jazzhole: Marlon and John both teach, I grow organic veggies, Pete is a carpenter, Mark designs websites, David Sancious is a gardener. Matthew: You sell your albums at UK’s leading Soul music shop Soul Brother Records. Does your music get distributed anywhere else in the UK? Jazzhole: I think so. This is our first time working with Soul Brother, which we are very excited about. I think they distribute the record to other stores, as well. Matthew: I mentioned a bit about distribution in my last question, what are your thoughts on the Music Industry? Jazzhole: You may get a longer answer than you were hoping for on this one, Matthew. I think what has happened to the music industry is very sad. People think it is dying because of piracy, and downloading, but the truth is the industry committed suicide. So much emphasis has been placed on appearance, and image, and so little on music, that what we are left with is a world full of Britney Spears, Christina Aguiliera, etc. At the end of the day, the industry bet on style rather than substance, and it was a losing bet. Now the industry is steeped in self pity, rather than taking a hard look at what they did to themselves. What is exciting, is that indie music
keeps producing fresh and interesting new things. The internet is giving
a voice to people who have never had access to fans before, but it is
very hard for indie artists to make a living without a vibrant music
industry to fuel things. So, the truth is, I think we will move into an
ear with contrived, corporate superstars that will do mediocre music,
and a bunch of talented, energized indie musicians who need a second job
to pay the bills. Jazzhole: I think we will keep on going. For me, it is like one of those great friendships, were you can drift away for a year or so, but then pick up the phone, and it is like you never were away. We don't make any demands of each other, and once every couple of years, we all get together, and have fun making a new record. Matthew: I worship your song ‘Love Philosophy’, that entire album is brilliant. How did you go about making it? What is the creative process of most Jazzhole records? Jazzhole: Thanks so much! The creative process is really different from song to song. Marlon, John and I do the writing, and each song happens a little differently. Love Philosophy, which was part of the album "Circle of the Sun", was a groove that John and I had put together, and Marlon came in and heard it, and wrote a great lyric and melody. For the new record, "Poet's Walk", the process was a little different. I have a cabin up in Woodstock, and John and Marlon came up to the cabin, and everyone brought a little batch of ideas - some written down, some on cassettes. We sat around, listened to each others ideas, fit little lyric fragments to music fragments, took a swim in the stream, got back to work, reminisced, laughed, etc. At the end of three such weekends, we had written all the songs for Poet's Walk. Matthew: In modern music whom do you listen to? Who would you like to collaborate with? Jazzhole: The truth is, I have been listening more and more to older music, and less and less to what is new. I am more interested in collaborating with chance people we run into, rather than particular stars. Part of that comes from growing on in NYC, where often the musicians playing in the train stations, or out on street corners seems as special as stars on records. Matthew: Your music is very impressive, beautiful, organic, and spiritual to a degree. How would you describe the Jazzhole sound? Jazzhole: That is so kind of you. I do feel like it has become more organic, and acoustic over time. In the last few years, I have fallen deeper in love with nature, and the earth, and that love feels like it has such a natural connection to soul music. Love, and nature are such universal things, that span cultures, and music genres. I think all of us at Jazzhole care less and less about what genre we are in, or labels or categories. We have been "acid jazz", "neo soul", and many other things, but where we are winding up is in a place where we hope are music speaks to anyone. Matthew: Would you consider working with any vocalists from the UK on future records? Jazzhole: We are wide open to working with new people - any suggestions??? Matthew: Thanks again for this exclusive Jazzhole interview. Keep making those quality records, and winning over the soulful/jazz fans. JAZZ-NOT-JAZZ
Just one thing about Soul Brother Records and the sticker they’ve put on the CD’s jewel case. They’re citing three reviews and two of them compare Poet’s Walk to “the best album Maxwell never made” and “the second album that Maxwell should have made.” Come on B&S (once known as Blues & Soul…that must have really been in a previous life when I’ve read Blues & Soul, nowadays they start reviews with “Don’t be put off by the name [Jazzhole]“…how any lover of soul music can be put off by jazz is beyond me) and Echoes, these comparisons do neither this album nor Jazzhole as a band nor Marlon Saunders as singer any justice. Jazzhole and Marlon Saunders both have shown more than once - actually this is Jazzhole’s fifth album release - that they can deliver the goods, for example listen to Marlon’s second album A Groove So Deep. And besides, this album just isn’t Urban Hang Suite Part II. If they’ve called it Marlon’s third solo album than I would agree. While Jazzhole engaged different singers on their previous releases this time it’s all about Marlon as a the voice of Jazzhole. So the idea of a collective with different voices and styles is somehow gone. But if the result is such a deep, soulful and great album as this one than I hardly can argue against this decision. All but two cuts were written by Marlon Saunders, Warren Rosenstein and John Pondel, the core members of Jazzhole. The two cover versions are great updates of Boz Scaggs’ Lowdown and the SOS Band’s Take Your Time (Do It Right). It’s really hard to pick a favourite here. All songs ooze soul and quality. There’s the midtempo delight All The Ways, maybe the one song that evoked the aforementioned comparisons to Maxwell, or the groovy Jonesing spiced up by Dave Binney on saxophone. The gentle latin inspired It Would Have Been Enough is a captivating duet with Yemen-native vocalist Michal Cohen and a great tune for a hot summer evening. The stripped down ballad The Slipping Of Time with Marlon and John Pondel on guitar only is just too good to be true. The song Timeless sums up what the music on Poet’s Walk is all about: strong songs, organic instrumentation and a great singer. In a nutshell it’s soul music with a timeless quality, that you can listen to over and over again. A real must-have for any serious soul music fan. AIDING AND ABETTING
CRITICS ON MORE JAZZHOLE RECORDS:
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