Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jessie Allen Cooper: Sound Travels
Jessie Allen Cooper: Sound Travels
ByThen, suddenly and with the kind of change that requires a visual and aural double-take, Cooper trades in his saxophone for a harmonica and wails a contemporary blues at you. It’s refreshing. His loping rhythm, electric guitars and driving backbeat take you to a different time and place. Just this once.
Sound Travels through both time and space. Tranquil melodies and hummable refrains linger throughout each leg of the journey. Cooper prefers a calm, moonlit lake or a still, summertime pasture to more exotic lands. Several pieces drive with a touch of drama and a loud, mesmerizing rhythm. Their melodies, however, take on a pastel hue, similar to the rest of his program, that is easy on the ears and ready-made for background music. Simple lines and predictable outcomes take the listener on a journey that brings no excitement. The kids in the back seat of the family sedan would be sayin’, “Are we there yet?” for the full hour.
Visit Cooper Sound Waves on the web.
Track Listing
Full Moon; Waltz for an Artist; Awakening; Groovin
Personnel
Jessie Allen Cooper- soprano saxophone, harmonica, tenor saxophone, synthesizer; Tim Ponzek- keyboards, synthesizer; Steve Katz- keyboards, synthesizer; Steve Reid- synth percussion, tambourine; Jamie Papish- dumbek, other percussion; Carlos Arias- congas, other percussion; Doug Ross, Vail Johnson- bass; Jack Majdecki, Ira Ingber- guitar; Robert Williams- dobro; Tom Kemper- drums; Jim Hale- trumpet.
Album information
Title: Sound Travels | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Unknown label
< Previous
Pictures of Soul