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ISSUE #124
Sept.
'09
Edward Leonard is known throughout the New
Haven music scene as
the man behind Beatnik
2000 – The insanely
long running (approaching 500 shows) open mic series held every Monday
Night at
Café 9. Edward’s relentless
promotion of singer/songwriters,
poets, and bands is 2nd to nothing. Yet, Edward
still finds a way to
create music that is at once Spiritually Uplifting, while delivering an
inspiring message of Humanity.
Teaming with Dave Davino not only as a band mate, but
also as the
co-arranger/producer, as well as the recorder and engineer (Dave owns Studio 23 in Prospect, CT) has brought
Edward’s self-coined,
amazing FRAZZ
(Folk/Rock/Reggae/Jazz)
style of musical composition to fruition. This reviewer, while familiar
with
Edward’s previous work with Deep City Elm
(IndepenDisc Oct. ’06 Feature) as well as his beatnik
drumming, had not heard
earlier AOR work. Many locals have told me that work, many years ago,
was just
as amazing. Vox
Humana, while standing
on Edward Leonard’s laurels as a musical shaman, was brought to
life in studio 23.
Dave Davino not only became a band mate, he became Ago Of Reason’s Alan Parsons.
Vox Humana – “Human Voice” is the wise elder
that sits us down in front of
the fire and passes on wisdom, that while it is there for all to see,
have and
experience – it is not acknowledged enough to make a
difference. If you listen
carefully though, there is a voice that rises up within and throughout
our
existence in the world, in this life. There is beauty and purpose for
everyone
of us, it’s just up to us to recognize and act upon that. The
Human Voice is as
powerful an instrument as any other, on many levels of interpretation.
The title track while launching out of early 80’s
Fleetwood Mac quickly establishes Edward’s vocals, highlighted by
his beautiful
knowledge and interpretation of Native American chant. Add in a couple
of face
melting guitar solos (a la` Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe), all
Fuzz-toned,
distorted, and tripping of acid-drenched reverb carried on a bed of
Alan Parsons
production and by the conclusion of the 1st track we’re
claiming
that Studio 23 does it right.
Some
Little Bird
highlights FRAZZ in all it’s wonderful glory. Early Chicago
Transit Authority
mashed with early Santana and Ed sings his heart out. The horn
orchestration in
ominous, the song rolls in one big mass gathering steam and laying it
down in a
grand Blood, Sweat & Tears swing. O!
My Faith breaks
big with reggae beats and Wah Wah peddles and takes us on a journey
that faith
has for each of us. All brought forth in a very low-key, yet powerful
deliverance, all with respect to the musical composition. Sounding very
King
Arthur-ish, Asked The Child escorts us on another journey,
this one the journey
of wisdom. Using Gregorian Chants to open the floodgates of sound that
flow
effortlessly over Angelic Vocals, this Alan Parsons/Jeff Lynne/ELO
product
delivers an epic Alter/Church experience in feeling that sound can
evoke. The
song ends with a coda straight out of Camelot – just amazing
musical
visualization.
And
Then One Day
brings us back to the Native American chants with a mellow break-beat,
while
delivering spoken word to a crying violin – Which makes us
realize that Age Of Reason is more than the name of the
band. Heed no further
proof than, The Bitch: With a huge Gong opening, we
are swifted away upon
psychedelic guitars that kick into an amazing overload, while carrying
us to
the next level. Edward’s vocals laying down –
“The
bitch is to swallow your pride” and
“The
changes are deep down inside.”
Attaining next level status is acknowledged by the Gong once again, and
we are
off on an early Rush, EL&P, Police throw down, grab some
Zeppelin riffage
and throw down like Deep(est) Purple with an awesome Carlos Santana
lead jam
and we acknowledge AOR’s terms in
acceptance of how the music can set us free.
Blue
Water is a jaunt
by the seashore, replete with Honky-Tonk piano over a flowing reggae
beat. It’s
a bounce in the sun, a little Dixieland Rag, it shows the breathe and
scope of
Edward and Dave’s musical knowledge/training/ability. Breathe
In The Wonder
finds the embers of the campfire we sat around as we began the journey
of Age Of
Reason,. It is the “Relax, watch the fire, gaze at the sky
and stars and let
the acoustic guitar rock you back from your day” type song
with lyrics that
start “At the end of the day / comes
this
song / I’m not sure what to say / but the sun is setting /
and we’ve just got
to write it down.” Which leads us to the reasoning
that we’re all here
together in a wondrous way, let’s not to forget to use our
Human Voice in a way
that is Spiritually Uplifting, while delivering an inspiring message of
Humanity.
Let us not only hear, but become Vox
Humana.
Let us not
only understand, but become Age
Of Reason.
Vox Humana
by Age Of Reason
is available now for: $9.98 + s/h*
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