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| CM |
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| I
played flugalhorn, keyboards and percussion on 'Chasing
After Wind', track 11 on 'Man in the Mirror'. Jeza
played and sang on a different mix of the same song which
is on my 2002 album 'Lucidity'. |
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| Lucidity at
CDBaby |
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| Off-site Reviews |
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| What's
being said about Jeza .. |
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| CM
on 'Man in the Mirror' |
Satch Norton, CM from New Joisey and
Jeza get wined up in London 2002 |
| I am an eclectic
guy when it comes to music and film and other forms of
expression. Too much of the same thing, no matter how
inspired or interesting that thing is, has diminishing
returns for me as a fan or as an artist. So it will come
as no surprise that I am particularly impressed by musical
artists who can skillfully and gracefully draw from a
broad array of styles and flavors, and blend those ingredients
into an original and genre-defying musical identity. An
excellent example is UK singer/songwriter Jeza, who in
late 2003 released 'Man
in the Mirror', the follow up to his widely-acclaimed
1999 album 'Wined
Up'. |
| At first, I
thought it a bit odd that Jeza included the phrase 'crossover
jazz rock pop' on the front and back of this album.
Apparently, he knows many fans tend to categorize or label
their favorite music, and Jeza's music doesn't fit neatly
into any one or two standard genres, so he went ahead
and gave us a label to use to describe what is inside.
How accurate is this self-applied description? I'd say
it works pretty well, better than anything else I could
come up with. |
| The jazz element
is most evident in an overtly swing piece like 'Sister
J', but a pervasive jazz feel is also clearly reflected
in many of the other songs: the chord changes and voicings
('Man
in the Mirror'), the improvisatory instrumental work
('Dancin'
in the Rain', 'Chasing
After Wind'), and Jeza's rich and adventurous vocal
delivery ('One
Fine Day'). |
| Jeza obviously
maintains a warm spot in his heart for classic rock, particularly
of the 60's-era psychedelic variety. John Hoare's sinuous
and haunting lead guitar soars and rings on several recordings,
including 'Darkness'
and 'One
Fine Day'. On the final reprise 'One
Fine Night', John's more muscular tone puts an emphatic
exclamation point at the end of the album. Jeza doesn't
resort to big drum and bass sounds to satisfy his need
to rock, sticking instead to much more restrained drums,
trebly bass parts and liberal use of hand percussion,
reminding me of mid-60's rock bands like early Grateful
Dead or Big Brother and the Holding Company. |
| The pop part
of Jeza's self-categorization is certainly well-deserved.
This is not 'pop' in the mindless, mass-produced meaning,
but instead the kind of pop whose litmus test is passing
the critical 'can you remember the hook?' test. I think
'One
Fine Day', 'Man
in the Mirror', 'Tower
of Babel' and 'Chasing
After Wind' all do well in this regard. Jeza happily
dips into other popular music forms, delivering a convincing
blues tune ('Watching
the Cellphone'), an authentic reggae groove ('Never
Go Away'), and a seductive bossa ('Dancin'
in the Rain'). Even elements of dance/techno grooves
show up unexpectedly ('Ballad
of Killy Beggs', 'Blues
Evolution'). |
| I should point
out that this album maintains the level of intelligence
and introspection established on 'Wined
Up'. Jeza follows his lyrical muse through big political
and philosophical topics and more intimate and personal
subjects with equal passion and wit. Never does he get
too overtly intellectual or preachy, though, managing
to keep each song honest and humble, something the listener
can relate to. By folding all this together with the term
'crossover', Jeza gives the listener fair warning that
in his world, anything can go with anything if it works
musically. Proudly defying any particular genre restrictions,
and refusing to 'dumb-down' in an attempt to achieve lowest-common-denominator
popularity. |
| Jeza's 'Man
in the Mirror' is a success on many levels. This is
an album that will satisfy the hunger of open-minded music
fans yearning for a rich stew in a world of musical junk
food and imitation flavors |
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| on 'Jeza wined
up' |
| In the world
of independent music, Jeza's
'Wined Up' has become a true classic since its release
in 1999. Jeza is the kind of artist who creates his own
genre, making music as he hears it and letting the rest
of the world figure out how to categorize it. His individuality
is underscored by the consistent high quality of these
recordings and performances, combined with his undeniably
soulful vocals and wide-ranging lyrics. |
| Each song reflects
a cross-pollenation of styles and attitudes, such as the
reggae-pop of 'Rhythm
Called Love', the bluesy-folk 'Deep
Water', the World-soul 'In
This Game', or the tongue-in-cheek jazz of 'Writer's
Block'. The songs I see as truly transcendent on this
album are some of the simplest: 'How
Can I Help You?', 'You're
The One' and 'Place
By The River'. These are songs that are very bit as
good as anything ever written by people like Eric Clapton
or Bill Withers or Tracy Chapman. 'Wined Up' makes an
outstanding addition to any music-lovers collection! |
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