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| Hobby Forum Index » Music - Reviews » CD Review: The Gabe Dixon Band "The Gabe Dixon Band"... |
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 Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:30 pm |
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The Gabe Dixon Band "The Gabe Dixon Band" (Fantasy)
Dixon has been compared to singer-songwriters Ben Folds, Billy Joel
and Elton John, and though he's likewise a pianist, his songs are more
often wistful in the vein of Jackson Brown or Paul Simon. There's a
soulful grandeur to his playing and singing, with funky elements as on
Elton John's albums from the first-half of the 1970s; he lopes along
on the New Orleans-styled second-line rhythm of "Till You're Gone" and
takes on gospel-influences for "Find My Way." Dixon's classical
training and the group's improvisational background can be heard in
the quality of the arrangements and the solidarity of the playing
(mostly recorded live-in-the-studio), but having pared themselves to a
trio, the songs are now carefully honed to three- and four-minute pop
pieces that forsake the overt jazz influences heard on the group's
2002 release, "On a Rolling Ball."
Like the best piano-led bands, the absence of guitar here is hardly
noticeable. Dixon's playing has such a rich sound, that backed by bass
and drums, its many octaves and sympathetic overtones fill the sonic
palette. Dixon's voice lies complementarily on the lower notes of his
piano playing, and on mid-tempo numbers such as the imagery-driven
"All Will Be Well," his voice rings with the purity of Paul Simon.
Though you'd be hard-pressed to label this band as Americana, their
Nashville residence (Dixon's hometown, to which he returned after
several years in New York) lends these songs an earnestness that
winningly supports lyrics of love that's alternately new, sustained,
broken and longed for. Dixon's equally convincing singing the first-
person story of a return home on "Five More Hours" as he is detailing
another's nearly suicidal loss on "And the World Turned."
Though Dixon's vocals provide a line of continuity from the band's
earlier works, their new-found focus on concise songwriting and
arranging provides a powerful multiplier to their performing. Dixon's
voice fits beautifully into the songs, his piano playing is stirring
on both the upbeat numbers and ballads, and the rhythm section
provides fitting accompaniment rather than demonstrating their chops.
The result is lively and engaging on both an intellectual and
emotional level and a big step forward for this fine trio. [(c)2008
redtunictroll at hotmail dot com] |
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