1. River Rush
2. Smiling South
3. New Vision
4. Snowflakes Rising
5. Flavor Seven
6. Afterplay
7. Heaven On Earth
8. Celtic Fire
9. Stone Shine
10. Reach For The Stars
11. Sunchaser
Brian Kelly - Piano, keyboards, percussion, pennywhistle, voice
Eric Crystal - Alto sax (tracks 1, 6)
David Rokeach - Drums (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 8)
Ross Wilson - Trumpet, trombone (track 2)
Tim Bolling - Percussion (tracks 2, 9, 10)
Viviana Guzman - Flute (tracks 3, 7)
Carol Alban - Flute (track 7)
James Robinson - Guitar (tracks 9, 11)
This is American keyboardist Brian Kelly's second album
and it has already got into the top three of New Age Reporter's
list of the Top 100. Of course, "New Age" is a dirty word
for some jazz fans, as is "smooth jazz" (both suggesting insubstantiability)
- and Brian Kelly's music seems to have a foot in both camps, as well
as qualifying as jazz. Kelly creates a buoyant sound which in some ways
resembles the music of Pat Metheny's popular groups, both in its floating
atmosphere and its insistence on the importance of melody. These
qualities make the album very accessible.
Kelly's swirling keyboards provide a rich sound, with
touches of diversity from such things as the slightly West Indian ambience
of Smiling South and the folky atmosphere of Celtic Fire.
River Rush effectively conjures up the image of a fast-running
stream, while Snowflakes Rising employs the keyboards to picture
snowflakes blowing in the wind. Brian Kelly is assisted by Eric Crystal,
who plays some neat sax solos on a couple of tracks.
All this is very happy - often beautiful - music but,
after a while, it begins to sound samey: with its airy, resonant keyboards
and a style that only varies a little from track to track. It makes
for a cheerfully smooth listening experience, but the word "smooth"
suggests that it is a bit too close to smooth jazz for the comfort of
jazz purists.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Skylight
Music SL 1002
