Emphasizer

Artist: Garage a Trois Label: Tone Cool Category: Music Average customer rating: Format: Enhanced Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 699675116521 EAN: 0699675116521 ASIN: B00008V5TY Release Date: 2003-04-22

Listmania:

1. Jazz To Get The Job Done
2. TOP NOTCH - VOLUME TWO
3. experimental soundscapes of the mind
4. Unclassified Vol. 1
5. Albums You Don't Need Drugs To Enjoy
6. Great Music Part 1 (in no order)
7. Best of the Nu Jazz
8. NEVERMIND THE RADIO ... FREE YOUR MIND 5
9. 25 Essential CD's
10. Share The Groove

Tracks:

1. Hard Headed Rio a.k.a Rio Cuca Dura
2. Sprung Monkey
3. Plena For My Grundle
4. A-Frame
5. We See
6. Interpretive Ape Dance
7. Launch
8. Gat Swamba
9. Delta Skelta
10. House of Hand Wash

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4. Crazyhorse Mongoose
5. Friends Seen and Unseen

Customer Reviews:

The thing I like about this disc . . ........2003-10-19

But it's all worth the effort. Garage a Trois is the future of jazz. Hip without being smug; multilingual sans carpetbagging; able to leap tall styles in a single bound. Proof: "Sprung Monkey." You're in Cumbia-land gone berserk, but it all makes sense. And the vibe continues unabated with "Plena for my Grundle" (great faux-Latinesque meaningless title with huge evocativeness). "A-Frame," the next cut, is pschedelic funk on uppers. Very groovy, and very scary. Charlie Hunter's wah-wah guitar scintillates. Indeed, Hunter stands tall throughout. He seems to have found the ideal context for his eight-string, bass/guitar hybrid. And Stanton Moore rules. The free-flowing vibe seems to enable him to unleash his most creative and percussive drumming. He's never sounded so good (check out his playing on "Get Swamba").

It's a mistake to think of this as a funk record, in my view. There're just too many other styles in play: garage, groove, psychedelic, free jazz, R&B, Latin, East Indian, lounge, Delta blues, gamelon, surf, to name just a few. What amazes is their ability to speak in all these cultural tongues with such glibness and spunk without sounding in the least stilted or inappropriately virtuostic: They're basically just having fun (albeit at a stratospheric level). And so will the listener.

Good offering, but does not represent........2003-07-23

Not funky.......2003-07-14

If you are lucky enough to have heard Garage a Trois's previous release, the vinyl-only Mysteryfunk EP, you know that it featured extremely raw funky grooves and some of the sickest beats known to man. I was expecting the same in Emphasizer, but unfortunately it's not here.

Rocks! A lot of fun!.......2003-07-09

The videos to play on your CD-ROM are pretty worthless but the links are cool.

It's music you can't feel bad while listening to... and that's a good thing.

5 stars? Sure, why not..........2003-06-12

I would've found this album worth my time if only to hear these particular musicians play, as they are a blessed bunch talentwise, but to my good fortune, I found this CD had more to offer musically than just an opportunity for four guys to demo their chops. Although earthy, loose funk-jazz is Garage a Trois' starting point (which they do very well), they don't limit themselves to just that. The latin grooves of "GAT Swamba" and "Plena for My Grundle," the asiatic marimba piece "House of Hand Wash," and the tribal percussion cadences and weird Middle Eastern melody of "Interpretive Ape Dance" demonstrate that this band has no intention of being an one trick pony. And although some tracks, in my opinion, could have been better -- the slick funk of "A-Frame" could be a bit dirtier, the electro-rock-blues of "Delta Skelta" a bit less conventional, and their rendition of Monk's lyrical "We See" less reverent -- nothing on this disc could be considered filler. Everything they do, they seem to strive to do well and in good taste. Probably as the result of these musicians' varied backgrounds and experience, the music throughout this CD maintains an impressive degree of creativity, adventure and energetic drive without losing cohesion or slipping into banality. Each musician gets his fair shot at the spotlight -- and each time, they step up quite willingly to make the most of it -- so the music has a good balance of each of their contributions.

More diverse than Moore's solo work, grittier than the Charlie Hunter Quartet, jazzier than Critters Buggin, and a lot meatier and juicier than most of the jazz releases I've heard this year so far, this ensemble shows a lot of potential to make music that's not quite like any of its members' previous work, even if it's just a side project for all of them. I, for one, certainly hope they will continue working together in the near future, because this CD isn't as predictable as one might suspect, and what's more, it's a lot of fun. Take a peek, and the music will wink back at you. Give it a minute more, and it'll flash a big, toothy grin. These guys have their fair share or more of talent, but thankfully, they don't let that get in their way of a good time.

Music CD:

1. The Centennial Collection ~ Fats Waller
2. Jimmy Dorsey & Orchestra - Greatest Hits ~ Jimmy Dorsey
3. Cool Blues ~ Jimmy Smith
4. Eliane Elias Plays Jobim ~ Eliane Elias
5. Memphis Underground ~ Herbie Mann
6. Shearing Piano ~ George Shearing
7. The Ballad of the Fallen ~ Charlie Haden with Carla Bley
8. Live at the Quick ~ B%C3%A9la Fleck & the Flecktones
9. Back to Oakland ~ Tower of Power
10. The Very Best of Lee Ritenour ~ Lee Ritenour

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

La Raza ~ Kid Frost

Halloween, Alaska ~ Alaska Halloween

One More from the Road ~ Lynyrd Skynyrd

Hundreds & Thousands ~ Bronski Beat

Lost and Foundered ~ Citizens' Utilities

Hot Night in Paris Big Band

Triple Value: Sixties ~ Various Artists

At His Very Best

Maxed Out Singles ~ Black Anger

No More Patience ~ Prophets of Rage