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San Diego Reader - December 6, 2007
“Good Jazz Beats All Food”
Anthology
** (Good)
1337 India Street (between A Street and Ash Street), Little Italy, 619-595-0300, anthologysd.com.
Good jazz can not only evoke past scenes, it provides them with a haunting soundtrack -- moving music turning into movie music. In my case, the memory movies (with my jazz-loving teenage self as the protagonist) are shot in black and white, in the fluid style of the New Wave filmmakers of the time, with a backdrop of glorious, bohemian Manhattan in the early '60s, jazz capital of the universe.
Jason Weber is a dark-eyed, intense-looking guy, maybe in his 30s. A few numbers into the first set, he launched into a sad-happy flowing melody that tore my mind away from my plate and left my heart in little pieces. Suddenly: A cloudy Manhattan afternoon, early fall, no money for subway fare, trekking two miles down desolate 11th Avenue for a few minutes of solitude overlooking the Hudson River at Gansevoort Pier (then derelict with rotting wooden planks, not the chic spot it is today), from whence I'd later turn eastward to the Village to commune with my kind.
Jazz like that will outpower any food. Nothing you can eat -- be it chilies, wasabi, or the sourest yuzu fruit -- hurts as deeply as good jazz, and no dessert is as sweet. The only sensual art that has a chance against such music is the best sex you ever had -- preferably accompanied by 'Trane, or maybe Mingus's "Good-bye, Porkpie Hat." (Do NOT attempt this activity to the tune of Monk's "Little Rootie Tootie.") The next day I Googled Jason Weber. Found his website. Discovered in "Reviews" a roaring all-out rave from 2006 by the late, great (sucks that he's dead) Buddy Blue, who was apparently as surprised and as knocked out as I was. It seems that when jazz lovers write about Jason Weber, they end up writing love songs.
Breath of relief when the band struck up a Thelonious Monk number, all playfulness and mathematical structure, releasing me from the capture of my sentimental movie to get back to the entrées.
In the latening evening, Jason Weber and his sidemen were also cooking from the heart, another fluid, happy-melancholy melody, math and passion, drawn out in a long sinuous sax line that reeled my mind in like a hooked marlin. (Back to the derelict pier with a 16-year-old's vague heartache, watching the great gray river flow.) Food is an easy physical pleasure, whereas good jazz is often difficult and complex and apt to steal your soul. Sensual, too, but in a sneakier way. An image came to mind of an old cheap paperback of the sort published in the late '40s and early '50s. On its cover, a tawdry-looking hotel room, where a long-haired brunette lies on the bed, wearing a white satin slip and an ankle bracelet, smoking a cigarette, legs slightly spread, while a dark-eyed saxophonist kneels on the bed between her ankles and plays.
No chef interview tonight, folks. We're done here. The chef of the evening was not at the stove but on the stage.
(This review is dedicated to Buddy Blue and Judith Moore.)
Naomi Wise - www.sandiegoreader.com
San Diego Union Tribune - January 19, 2006
“Buddy's raging case of black-envy flares up again”
We long ago established in this column that black people are hipper than other people, particularly if they are American, over 40 and don't listen to crappy hip-hop (although some under-40 black people associated with hip-hop to one degree or another can be very hip as well; witness, say, Snoop, "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather and Dave Chappelle).
Too, we long ago established in this column that smooth jazz or acid jazz or crossover jazz or contemporary jazz or whatever they call it this week is not really jazz at all, and is, in fact, often very nearly as crappy as crappy hip-hop, and in worst-case scenarios can indeed be adjudged as even crappier.
And so I was stunned – stunned! – when one evening not long ago, I spent an evening at Humphrey's Backstage Lounge and found it crammed to sardine can proportions with exotically hip black people, many of whom appeared to be well over 40 and smelled of pricey perfumes and colognes and sported marvelously posh-looking threads in rainbows of gorgeously luminescent pastel colors and brushed beaver retro-Stetsons to render the hipper-than-everyone-else-on-the-planet Delroy Lindo green with envy.
Stun Factor No. 1: This awe-inspiring assemblage of hipster elite had descended upon Humphrey's in support of a self-advertised smooth/acid/contemporary/crossover jazz reedman, a sullen-looking but extraordinarily handsome youth named Jason Weber, who is white, well under 40 and wearing a very casual, perhaps Target-purchased wardrobe with the top shirt buttons undone and surfer-dude beads around his neck.
Stun Factor No. 2: Despite the fact that Weber looked like someone who might possibly hang around trendy L.A. clubs listening to crappy hip-hop in the company of Colin Farrell and Paris Hilton, when I closed my eyes I might have sworn it was 1970 and I was listening to Quincy Jones up on the bandstand, conducting an all-star combo featuring Cannonball Adderly, Eddie Harris, Herbie Mann, Pepper Adams and Herbie Hancock. There was nothing smooth or contemporary or crossover emanating from that stage, and if it was acid, it was a damned good trip; a flight of fantastic, first-class, full-fashion funk; I'd even go so far as to frame the fuss as "far out." The kid can write, the kid can blow, and he can blow soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, flute and keys (although tenor is his main ax).
If ya don't believe me, check him out with your own optic organs: Weber's new CD, "Can U Feel Me Now," is available at his Web site, www.jasonweber.net, and his entirely fly combo makes a return engagement at Humphrey's Sunday night, a concert you ought to attend even if you're not a cool, middle-aged black person.
Meanwhile, I placed a call to Weber's Lake Elsinore home to ask him two questions:
Q: Why do you call your music "smooth jazz" when it's really better than that implies?
A: "I hate labels and I agree that a lot of smooth jazz in insincere and unmusical, but you have to call yourself something for marketing purposes to get people to pay attention."
Q: Why do all these cool, middle-aged black people in fancy threads love you so much?
A: "I don't know."
Buddy Blue - www.signonsandiego.com
Jason Weber - ‘Can U Feel Me Now?’
From that effort, we present a torrid track titled Brainfreez that features some wicked electric guitar from Mike DeRose. Now this is what you wanna hear, five full minutes of charged listening that knocks down the boundaries of radio!! And in answer to the musical question posed by the album's title, "Yeah Jason! We can feel you now!!"
Ted Hasiuk - www.jazzlynx.net
Jason Weber - ‘Can U Feel Me Now?’
When, back in 2002, I reviewed Jason Weber’s album Something Blue I described it as “a far above average example of good smooth jazz with quality sax playing throughout and a consistently compelling beat that holds the listener firmly in place over each of the thirteen self penned tracks”.
Now he has built on all of that for his fifth solo release, the most confident and powerful to date, ‘Can U Feel Me Now?’. Written and produced by Weber, this is a high octane chunk of funk that is off the chain from the get go and stays that way.
As said, ‘Can U Feel Me Now?’ is an album that pulls no punches and opens with a bang courtesy of the big and funky title track. It features Morris Pleasure on Rhodes, who has played with, among others, Earth Wind and Fire, Janet Jackson and Boney James, and is a cut that really rocks from start to finish.
Amid an ocean of funk there are several tracks that really catch the attention. ‘House Is A Home’ is perhaps the CD’s most radio ready tune. With a nice hook it starts out mid tempo but really gets on a roll with an excellent guitar break from Mike DeRose and notable drumming throughout from Rodney Zinnen. Equally good is ‘(Just Another) Urban Legend’ which again is funky but where Weber gets a Euge Groove sound going and Michael Leroy Peed, who has played with Richard Elliot, Stanley Clarke and Ronnie Laws, contributes great keyboards.
‘Brainfreez’, more up tempo funk with Weber blowing up a melodic storm, is arguably the best track on the album while ‘Spirit Unbroken’ has that big Jason Weber sound with a melody running through it and wailing guitar from Patrick Yandall. Also featured is drummer Steve Ferrone who can be found on six tracks in all. Ferrone has played with the Average White Band, Eric Clapton and also Patti Austin with whom he contributed to what I consider to be one of the best fusion numbers of all time, ‘Hurry Home’ from her 1994 release on GRP That Secret Place.
With ‘Can U Feel Me Now?’ Jason Weber is making a statement that it’s OK for smooth jazz to be loud and funky. What he has to offer plays well on record and promises to be exceptional in a live setting. He can be found playing solo every Monday at Crivello Ristorante Italiano, Wildomar CA and every Friday at the Ritz Carlton – Laguna Niguel, Dana Point CA. However in order to register the total impact of Can U Feel Me Now? check him out with his full band on August 25 at the Promenade Mall Jazz Series in Temecula CA, on August 28 at Humphries By The Bay in San Diego CA where he will be part of the KIFM Lites Out Night and on September 3 at Romano’s in Riverside CA.
Denis Poole - www.smoothjazzvibes.com
Jason Weber - ‘Something Blue’
It must be a daunting experience these days to try to break into the Smooth Jazz genre as a saxophone player. With the likes of Boney James, Gerald Albright, Wayne Braxton and Eric Marienthal raising the bar to nearly unreachable levels anyone looking to be noticed has to bring something new and different to the table these days. Jason Weber manages to set up an aural buffet that should satisfy even the most discriminating musical palate. Something Blue is Jason's fourth release since his debut First Avenue was released in 1996. This album is a potpourri of sounds and musical visions. It opens with the tastefully sedate "Reflections." From here we make our way over to "J Street" for a little funkification. Jason tones things down again with the lilting melody "Alone In Paradise." If this is paradise I'll gladly stay here, alone or otherwise. The title track showcases the, I guess you could say, blue, aspect of the album. Things get moving again with the exuberant "Here & There But Nowhere." And, finally, the last cut asks that musical question, "Got Funk?" The short answer? Oh Yeah!! Get funk, get blue, get filled with all the goodies you can get with Jason Weber's Something Blue.
Derick Winterberg - The Smooth Jazz Site
Jason Weber - ‘Something Blue’
While my desk is always piled high with heavily promoted smooth-jazz releases from major & independent artists we've all heard of, it's good on occasion to discover a few lesser-known talents who are just as deserving of coverage & accolades. If there's any justice, Jason Weber's popularity on MP3 will lead him to the kind of career success that Euge Groove has enjoyed since he created a buzz on the same internet outlet. Weber is all about diversity on his disc Something Blue, which switches effortlessly between four saxes & a flute & is backed by keyboardist Marcel East & guitarist Patrick Yandall. The music ranges from wistful, cool seductions on "Reflections" & "Alone In Paradise" to slamming funk on "J Street".
Jonathan Widran - Jazziz Magazine
Jason Weber - ‘Something Blue’
Smooth jazz that pushes the boundaries and overflows with attitude, broad style and pizazz. Featuring saxophone, this is smooth jazz rockin' out with Pop sensibilities and mainstream appeal. If you think smooth jazz is "waiting room music”, you're going to wish this is what they DID play in there - because with his dashes of funk and "smoove", that waiting room would hold whole new worlds of potential in courting members of the opposite sex. Then he turns around and throws in mbira and lilting time signatures. In other words, you won't know what's around the next corner.
Derek Sivers / Tamara Turner - CD Baby
Jason Weber - ‘Something Blue’
Quality sax playing throughout and a consistently compelling beat holds the listener firmly in place over each of the thirteen self penned tracks. . . . . The album ends on a genuine high with ‘Got Funk?’ which it certainly has in abundance. It is a high energy ending to what is a really good example of smooth jazz from a performer who looks set to go on from strength to strength. Let’s hope the executives just down the road at KiFM 98.1 pick up on it and give it the airplay it deserves.
Denis Poole - Smooth Jazz Vibes
Jason Weber - ‘Something Blue’
Personally I count several hundreds of sax players worldwide and therefore it’s important to present those artists which protrude from the average through their performance. One of these excellent artists is Jason Weber. . . . On “So Cool”, Jason’s mellow soprano sax meets Mike DeRose's distortion guitar. Jason plays a fantastic soprano solo. Recognize his mastership.
HBH - Smooth & Soul
Jason Weber - ‘Leap of Faith’
This is the greatest smooth jazz tune (“Don’t Let Go”) I have encountered on mp3.com so far. Jason Weber is a great saxophone player who offers smooth jazz right out of the top drawer. This tune flies - sheer smooth jazz bliss.
Peter Böhi - Smooth Jazz Vibes
Jason Weber - ‘Something Blue’
While Jason Weber’s soprano sax work is a little reminiscent of Eric Marienthal, the refreshing thing is that for the most part, Jason Weber sounds like… Jason Weber. . . . . I’ve reached my musical Nirvana. Jason Weber’s music took me all the way there.
Elizabeth Ware - The Jazz Nation