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Hotel Real
by Carl Filipiak is a collection of upbeat, instrumental fusion
tracks with a classic jazz fusion feel and style that is
reminiscent of many fusion pioneers such as Jeff Beck and Al Di
Meola, among others. Just to give you a basic idea of what the
music sounds like, it reminds me much of Di Meola's upbeat,
spanish-flavored rhythms, accessible progressions, and refined
soloing. The music deploys much of what you would expect in
mainstream jazz tonality, though Filipiak has a definite tendency
towards a melodically-grounded and accessible sound rather than
exploration of outside harmonization. Filipiak has a strong
polarization to coherent arrangements with fluidly-transitioning
themes and musical ideas whose motivations are readily
perceiveable by the listener. The guitar work is admirable and is
accompanied by some excellent sax work, as well. And, though the
music is definitely guitar-centric, the overall accompaniment is
first rate, as is evident by an inspection of the contributing
members of the band, notably Dennis Chambers.
For the guitar
efficienados, the guitar work is well-felt, refined, and very
polished. Filipiak has excellent fluidity and control over
dynamics in his playing. He deploys a broad vocabulary of musical
ideas, all of which have been polished to a bright shine. And
though I wouldn't say that Filipiak is pioneering any new ground
in his technique, he does present a solid grasp on existing
technique and a good vision of how to apply it and integrate it
with a musical vision.
The first and title track,
"Hotel Real", is an upbeat, spanish-flavored
instrumental that features some Di Meola sounding rhythms and
solo work that is very fluid and quickly paced. It is a really
great track with a lot of accessible themes and guitar work that
work well together to form a cohesive instrumental. The ensuing
track, "Mayberry", takes a divergence to a different
style and setting that will conjure images of Andy Griffith and
Opie walking off for a day of fishing. Filipiak pays impressive
tribute to Jeff Beck with two different versions of Stevie
Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers". Filipiak has
absorbed and assimilated the Jeff Beck interpretation to near
perfection. Jimi Hendrix is the next influence that Filipiak pays
homage to with the next track, "Hey Jimi", which is a
variation of the theme to "Hey Joe" done up in a jazz
suiting. "Song For Irene" is a mellow, jazz ballade
with some tasty melodies and catchy hooks, all done with a smooth
jazz feel; a very tactful tune for relaxing on a Sunday afternoon
for certain.
Well, in summary, I would
reccommend this album to fans who might like straight-ahead jazz
fusion with a grounding in the sound and feel of the earlier rock
pioneers like Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix, though with some of the
jazzier rootings of Al Di Meola, though I might note that
Filipiak has a tendency more towards Di Meola's refinement rather
than his aggressive side. The music on Hotel
Real definitely has some quality to it both
in musicianship and compositional content. The music on this
album is widely accessible with its roots planted firmly in a
philosopy of coherent themes, rhythms, progressions, and soloing.
Guitar |
Carl Filipiak |
Saxophone |
Bob Berg, Gary Thomas |
Bass |
Gary Grainger, Lamont T.
Battle |
Drums |
Dennis Chambers, Will Calhoun,
John Thomakos |
Keyboards |
Paul Soroka |
Percussion |
Victor Williams |
1) Hotel Real |
2) Mayberry |
3) Cause We've Ended As Lovers |
4) Hey Jimi |
5) Song For Irene |
6) Theme From The Lottery
Incident |
7) Blues In 0 |
8) Cause We've Ended As Lovers |
~ Christopher
Ruel ~ www.ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris@ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris Ruel's Monthly Spotlight

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Peripheral Vision
by Carl Filipiak maintains the standard and quality that Filipiak
defines in Hotel Real.
In fact, Peripheral Vision
borrows several tracks from Hotel Real,
as well as adding a number of other tracks. Peripheral
Vision is an enjoyable album that contains
many accessible tracks that feature the polished and savvy
playing of Filipiak on guitar and talents like Bob Berg and
Dennis Chambers on other instruments.
Peripheral Vision
is much in the same vein as Hotel Real,
and the same comments for that effort apply to this one. If you
enjoy Hotel Real, you
should also check out this CD from Filipiak.
On one sad note, the
great, inspiring saxophonist from Filipiak's albums, Bob Berg,
recently died in December of 2002 in a tragic accident. I would
like to offer my profound sympathies to those that knew him in
person and through his amazing musical recordings that graced
many jazz and fusion CDs in recent decades. His death was a great
loss to modern music and has left a vacuum that will not easily
be filled.
Guitar |
Carl Filipiak |
Saxophone |
Bob Berg, Dave Fairall |
Bass |
Gary Grainger, Lamont T.
Battle, Jim Charisen |
Drums |
Dennis Chambers |
Keyboards |
Paul Soroka |
Percussion |
Victor Williams, Greg Grainger |
1) Hotel Real |
2) Mariko |
3) Little Wing |
4) Song For Irene |
5) Right On Time |
6) Blue Entrance |
7) Cause We've Ended As Lovers |
8) Two PM |
9) Say You Were |
10) Nuji |
11) Forest Flower |
~ Christopher
Ruel ~ www.ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris@ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris Ruel's Monthly Spotlight

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