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Artist: Andy Rothstein
Title: Voodoo Tone
Genre: Jazz-Rock-Fusion
Label: Vermicious Kind Music
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Voodoo Tone is a labor of love
for guitarist Andy Rothstein and
former band mate and bass player
supreme Tony Senatore. This is
Rothsteinís project; make no mistake
about that but Senatore played a
major role in helping to whip these
great tunes into shape, not to
mention all of the other
contributors. What you have here are
two music studs facing off, digging
in, and providing some stellar
fretwork. They bounce a lot of
incredible music off each other and
the result is one terrific and
consistent recording.
Rothstein is very adept and
technically proficient, providing a
very good match for his counterpart
on bass. Out of the eight tracks,
only two have vocals in
accompaniment to the music. ìIf Not
Now, Then Whenî and ì#1î gets an
emotional charge from friend and
vocalist Link, although the music
stands on its own without the need
of vocal support. He does a nice job
making each track prominent and very
special. The rest of the album is
pure instrumental magic, every bit
of it. Once again, I am hearing the
tremendous influence Jeff Beck and
Al Di Meola have had on an entire
generation of guitar players. More
specifically, pointing to Beckís two
masterpieces of jazz-rock-fusion
titled Blow By Blow and
Wired. In a sense I feel that I
have used this comparison one too
many times this year but I just
cannot help myself, it is what it
is, and it definitely comes up more
than once during the run of this CD,
especially by the time you have
listened to it three times.
This
brand of jazz rock fusion comes at
you in various pleasingly funky
moods, tones, and textures-slow,
fast, ever changing within one
composition, you get it all wrapped
into one tight package that will
impress you and make you wonder why
you have not heard of this guy Andy
Rothstein before. This sure has me
scratching my head. This dude has
his chops down, he is very fluid,
precise, and above all his approach
and style are warm and inviting
regardless of what the tempo is. For
me that says it all and I have to
add that I never became weary
listening to this CD, every time I
hear it, I enjoy it more, looking
forward to the next spin. How many
recordings have you heard that can
do that for you? I dare say very
few-no, in fact I would be willing
to bet you can count on one hand how
many for the entire year. That, my
dear listener, is what you call a
prolific musical experience.
ìBrain Powerî is the curtain opener,
and does it ever cook right along,
there is no slow simmer and an
eventual build up to a boil, it is
overflowing from the pot its
bubbling so hard. Rothstein pumps
out some stinging guitar licks in
this tune and in effect, kick starts
the entire album setting you up for
more of the same. I really enjoyed
ìRetro Fuso,î the title is
self-explanatoryÖanyone for a little
fusion? Its plain and simple,
Rothstein takes ìGiant Stepsî in
making himself a known factor in the
world of jazz-rock-fusion six-string
wizardry and at the same furthers
the case for Senatoreís brilliance
as a bass player and an all-around
contributor to any project.
©
Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck-December
8, 2006
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