Music reviews will go here:
Song: New Horizons
Composer Adam H. R. Gill delivers a stirring modal jazz ballad, with his release of "New Horizons." Performed in a free tempo rubato style, this piece features a flowing arrangement for piano, sax and flute, that's highlighted by its inventive melodies and unconventional harmonies, and shaped by nontraditional time signatures. Gill takes listeners on a fantastical expedition, transporting them through shifting moods ranging from mild wonder and tranquility, to a slight apprehension and uneasiness before landing on calm and solid ground. Coming in at nearly seven and a half minutes, Adam H. R. Gill's "New Horizons" offers a more than satisfying listening experience, one that should be particularly appealing to contemporary instrumental and new age jazz audiences.
Strongest Point(s)
Solid production and mix. Gorgeous modal chord progressions, that allow for unique and interesting melodies. Excellent chord voicing and blocking. Great instrumentation, good blend of sounds. Sax and flute is always a sure combo. Strong opening motif. The free tempo really allows the piece to breathe nicely. Lots of interesting variations and harmonic shifts throughout, and the mixed meters really keep the listener on their toes. Nice contrast between different sections, each has its own individual character within the same play. Third third section that begins around 3:05 was particularly intriguing to me. Loved the angular unison melody and chromatic chord changes. Pleasant, gentle ending. All in all, this is a great atmospheric composition that should draw both jazz and new age listeners, as well as contemporary instrumental audiences of all types. Very nice work.
Target Audience Appeal
Fans of Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Contemporary Instrumental, Progressive Jazz, New Age, Modal Music, Modern Creative
Artist target suggestions
Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, Roland Kirk, Herbie Hancock, Rachel Z, Miriam Sullivan, Tigra Hamasyan, Vijay Iyer, Keith Jarrett, Kamasi Washington, Jason Moran, Liz Story, David Virelles, Eric Dolphy
Steven Azami is a multi-instrumentalist with over 25 years of experience in the music industry. Both as a touring/session player and as a producer, his career has spanned nearly every genre from bluegrass to jazz, from rock to reggae. In addition, his work as a music educator has allowed him to cultivate and foster talent among the next generation of musical explorers.
Song: A thought within a thought
RadioAirplay (Dec 2019)
Strongest Point(s): The musicianship is the strongest point. You can clearly hear that the pianist knows how to play with conviction. The arrangement seems almost conversational - colorful, enlightened, and resolute. If the track was put together with the thought process of one take, then it's nothing but spot on for this style. I really enjoyed the piece. Nice job!
Target Audience Appeal: This should appeal to listeners beyond just the obvious jazz piano enthusiast. This song would lend to people that love instrumental piano tracks, piano solo arrangements and relaxing piano music. I can close my eyes and see this being played at a city lounge or classic nightclub where the vibe is mellow and laid back throughout the entire night.
Artist target suggestions: George Winston, Dave Brubeck, Thelonius Monk, David Lanz, Philip Aaberg, Bill Evans, Liz Story, Greg Maroney, Mark Hemmeler, Michael Jones, Kevin Kern, Philip Wesley, Michael Gettel
Area(s) of Improvement: Wasn't sure if it was a hard compression effect within the recording or if the strings were actually being muted but when the sound of the piano drops out it does create an abrupt audible dynamic, especially in a headphone mix. All sound drops out completely and then it's back in a second after. This could be an artistic choice so this is more of my personal experience listening to the piece rather than an improvement that needs to be made. The dynamic drop in sound throws me off, only slightly, but just enough that I'm taken out of the moment.
Lyrics: Not Applicable
Instrumental Performance/Execution: Strength
Melody/Rhythm: Strength
Arrangement/Flow: Strength
Recording Quality/Overall Mix: Strength
Song: Unfinished Journey
Submithub (March 2019)
1/ This is a bit more disjointed and cinematic than something we would work with generally, we tend to be a bit more single-centric.
2/ Not bad at all, great piece of music, but this is really not our genre, please check our releases.
3/ Some interesting ideas here, to take it further it would be great to record some real instruments or upgrade your software samples, as it sounds a bit disjointed in places because of the unnaturally perfect consistency. Some very good arranging in places though, so it would be nice to do it justice with great sounds.
Song: Epilogue
Submithub (Nov 2020)
1/ Lovely piece; though I generally prefer acoustically recorded piano sounds to fit my playlists, sorry.
2/ The melody and the mood are very cool, but the piano sound is a little too thin, sorry.
3/ A decent, jazzy neoclassical composition that needed much more in terms of melody & progression to differ from average.
4/ Hi, thanks for sending this in. As a piano piece executed in a traditional style, I thought this was pretty nice - the slight elements of jazz were a nice touch, and the quality was very crisp. However the quality, and also possibly the length of the piece, are what deter me slightly, in that I would usually look for classical pieces like this one to possess a sort of felt / ambient feel which brings out the most mellow feelings, rather than an acoustic feel. Additionally, I wouldn't usually approve a piece longer than 5 or so minutes, as I sometimes feel as though the structure can become a little lost after that point. However, this is admirable as a fresh acoustic piece, and I wish you the best of luck.
