Ashley J – Satisfied

Ashley J – Satisfied 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyj_music/ 

The kinetic energy and passion generated by Ashley J’s latest single “Satisfied” seems powerful enough to light up a city block or more. It’s the latest in a string of strong singles that have seen her venture forth from her Orlando, Florida upbringing, experience a brief foray in Nashville, and now finds her in California working with some of the best high profile behind the scenes talents in the music world today. Those creative partnerships have transformed Ashley J from a work in progress into an increasingly realized artist who has the rare skill for entertaining and illuminating her listeners alike in a full on pop music vein. “Satisfied” definitely contains strong components of EDM, but Ashley J is far more than just some pretty face and body tacked on as window dressing for a shallow musical vehicle. Instead, she’s the beating heart of this song and consumes it whole like true artists always do.    

“Satisfied” has an impressive groove that most songs, surprisingly considering the track’s EDM origins, memorably lack. There’s a lot of bells and whistles added to dance/electronically oriented tracks today that rob them of their potential for connecting with listeners and this decision is fortunately one Ashley J avoids. Her focus is, instead, on presenting a well rounded package of her voice and the arrangement. They work superbly together. The synthesizer dominated backing has a streamlined quality that keeps its layered effects from ever becoming too cluttered and overwhelming the listener while the rhythm section has great warmth and a fat sound. It gives her singing the compelling platform it deserves so it can make maximum impact on listeners.  

The impact is real. Her voice absolutely rivets your attention from first line to last and shows more emotional variety than three singers of her ilk can typically muster combined. She’s truly a prodigious singing talent likely capable of tackling any sort of song, but she has truly found her fit in this mold because it doesn’t restrict her in anyway and she possesses the talent to change its formulas as she sees fit. The lyrical content gives her more to work with here than most of her contemporaries enjoy and she makes the most of it. There’s some particularly excellent transitions in her range and the way she attacks the chorus shows great aggressiveness, but just the right amount of restraint as well. It’s an all around wining performance that makes this single fly and it leaves her excellent earlier work in the dust. We’re witnessing the maturation of a great singer with this release and there’s little question that Ashley J deserves to write her own ticket from this moment forward. “Satisfied” will likely linger in your mind long after the first few hearings and merits repeated listening. You’ll be hooked for the more that’s sure to come soon.  

SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/ashleyj_music

Pamela Bellmore

Theo Czuk - The Black Bottom

Theo Czuk - The Black Bottom 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/theoczuk/ 

Theo Czuk’s multi-pronged artistic life encompasses prose, poetry, songwriting, and musicianship with such all consuming energy you’ll be forgiven if you wonder when he finds time to breathe, let alone sleep. You can hear the unfettered joy of creation come across in each of the dozen songs on his newest release The Black Bottom, a collection subtitled Cultivating Jazz: The Full Measure, and the full measure he alludes to is the mighty task of surveying an entire genre within the course of twelve relatively brief songs. The level of musicianship behind these performances is extraordinarily high and never tests the listener’s patience. Much of that can be attributed to his seemingly endless wellspring of melodies at his disposal and the chemistry between Czuk and the musicians he’s enlisted to help make this album a reality. The Black Bottom is a powerful release, but it doesn’t beat on its chest with false bluster. Instead, it makes its case through inspiration and a commanding mastery of fundamentals.  
 

“The Black Bottom” starts the album off impressively thanks to its bass line and wildly inventive keyboard playing. It’s also an early illustration of how these musicians never get carried away with themselves as the organ work could clearly overstep at any given moment but never does. His personality and charisma really comes across with the song “Cold Corridor” and he does a miraculously effective job of dramatizing the lyrical material. His writing doesn’t intend to remake the wheel, but it is nonetheless extremely sharp and it’s impossible to not be impressed by his talent for selecting memorable details. His charisma comes through again as a singer with the song “Let It Swing” and, for pure entertainment value, it’s arguably one of the finest moments on The Black Bottom. Another entertaining track comes with the songs “Nika Nightingale (Is It Real?)” and “Wooden Nickels” and they are particularly distinguished by Czuk’s undeniably funny but truly unique sense of humor, punchy choruses in each song, and a solid approach to the vocals. Sandwiched between these two songs, rather improbably, is his musical adaptation of Kenneth Patchen’s poem “Lunch Wagon on Highway 57” and it captures every bit of that Beat poetry married to music feel that Czuk is obviously seeking.  
 

“Good Night’s Sleep” is a romping jazz number with a memorable mix of the serious and comical that is as polished as someone could hope for while the track “Pi to the Nth Degree” has great ambiance recalling the earlier “Cold Corridor” but with a distinctly upbeat slant. It sounds wide-eyed and enchanted with great melodies and changes carrying the day. “Catalina Eddy” is another loose, yet expertly delivered number with a warm spirit and even tosses in some play instrumental nods that will bring a smile to listener’s faces. The Black Bottom wraps up with a final instrumental, “Closing Time”, which plays to some popular tropes in the style but proves to be convincing closer in every respect. Theo Czuk’s bold experiment has paid off handsomely and it’s sure to bring tremendous enjoyment to anyone willing to give it a chance.

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/the-black-bottom/1256523578 

Pamela Bellmore