Wednesday, March 25, 2009

MIKE PARDEW "azul" review in FAZER MAGAZINE

Mike Pardew – Azul review

Monday, March 23rd, 2009
Afan Music / Five Oaks Productions
Mike Pardew – AzulReview by Mike Bax
Mike Pardew’s Azul album plays like a set of jazz you might see in a back alley bar in nowheresville USA. A few songs bring in some beats akin to Medeski, Martin & Wood… but overall, this disc is straight-up jazz music.
While I’m not a particularly big jazz fan, I did enjoy the heavy bass notes on this CD – they are big and chunky – you can almost hear the rasp of the guitars’ strings leaving the tips of Damian Erskine’s fingers on a few of the songs.
I don’t feel I’m educated enough to say whether this is a good jazz album or not. My knowledge of Jazz is so sparse I couldn’t hold my own in casual conversation about the genre. I’d pretty much throw out the Bitches Brew staple recordings, maybe a little John Coltrane. And then I’d be done. Azul seems to be a fluid recording. And I’ve popped it on around the house from time to time while relaxing / reading.

www.mikepardew.com

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