TECHNICAL MUSIC REVIEW
With the same problem of a lot new releases every year, no matter how hard you try it’s tough to keep up with them all (no matter the genre). I knew Zakk Jones was releasing this album and it totally passed me by with the flurry of releases going into the summer. Being on my radar, a ton was dropped from May to July (next week is August holy crap) and this was unfortunately lost in the shuffle. Getting around to it now, I think I really missed one here and wonder why I didn’t give it a shot closer to it’s release date at the end of May.
If you know my tastes musically and also as an artist, I’m a fan of layered music….extra instrumentation spices up the music and enhances the melodies! Well, the right stuff at least. And that also applies to jazz…..love some brass included with some piano/keys, both acoustic and electric guitar. But for Jones he went the total opposite direction, but you know what? It was a great change in pace for someone like myself, where all 3 instruments (guitar, upright bass and drums…that’s it!) have a TON of room to breathe. I got into Zakk’s music when I saw some of his videos with his gnarly chord progressions and great melodies. I got excited the more he told me about this upcoming release as his trio was going to be a huge focus going forward and oh boy has it been that way. He’s played a ton of shows and I believe went to Europe (Amsterdam I think? Don’t quote me on this) as well. He had a release show for “Mise-en-scène” as well.
What sets apart the music of Jones is his slight addition of country twang in his leads here and there which isn’t found in a lot of jazz. It’s a very mature album that gives me faith in younger jazz players in the community and very glad to know the guy. He’s worked hard on the album and it came ten fold. The rhythm section on the album is great. Josh and Ryan (bass and drums respectively) easily held a great rhythm.
“Mise-en-scène” is a very modern styled album classic jazz fans may or may not enjoy and I’m not a fan of labeling…..but in my line you unfortunately have to label it to help describe it to fans and fellow artists. No matter how you slice it, this album kicks ass and Zakk is a damn good guitarist. Check out the album below and buy it digitally or physically. I know I’ll grab the CD soon that’s for sure.
Originally published on Technical Music Review. Republished with permission.
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