Jason Lee – Easy Listening

Organ and Keyboard Cavalcade Review by Ian King

Issue 343 – May / June 2016

(CD) Jason Lee – Easy Listening
Running Time 72 minutes – Price £7.95

You may remember that I reviewed Jason Lee’s last CD a few months ago. That CD was called “Best of Organ Lounge” and contained a selection of top organ tunes played on the KeyB organ with very much a ‘Hammond Sound’. This CD has a totally different sound and utilises the more orchestral sounds of the Yamaha Tyros 5 (although some of the Tyros’ organ sounds do creep in on some of the tracks).

The whole CD has a relaxed feel and highlights include the opening laid-back swing medley, starting with piano and vibes on “Mood Indigo“, before changing to a nice jazz guitar and sax on ”Moonglow”. James Last’s “Mornings at Seven” has a lot going on with harp glissandos, whistles and soaring strings. Panpipes take the lead on an atmospheric version of “The Lonely Shepherd”.

No prizes for guessing the lead instrument on Acker Bilk’s “Stranger on the Shore” and this goes to show how much the clarinet sound has improved on keyboards over the last few decades. Again, no surprises with the lead voice on John Denver’s (James Galway’s) “Annie’s Song” although this is a little different as it’s done as a waltz.

The acoustic guitar on “Aranjuez Mon Amour” highlights another instrument that has become ultra-realistic over the last couple of decades. The oboe on this one is pretty amazing too. Jason mentions the improvement in keyboard technology since the 1960s and 1970s in the liner notes.

The CD closes with a couple of nice medleys; a swinging mix of “Mean to Me” and ”Sweet Lorraine” and a slow latin trio of “More”, “Perfidia” (with some of the Tyros 5’s organ sounds) and “Meditation”.

I think this CD will appeal to a different (and maybe wider) audience than his Organ Lounge CD as it’s far more of an easy listening CD with more variation, given the sonic spectrum the Tyros 5 has to offer.

FULL TRACKS: Mood Indigo / Moonglow • I Just Called to Say I Love You • Mornings at Seven • Moon River • Whispering / All of Me • The Lonely Shepherd • Kissing in the Back Row of the Movies / Cracklin’ Rosie / I Only Want to Be With You • Stranger on the Shore • They Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil / Tristeza • Annie’s Song • Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow / You Can Never Stop Me Loving You / The Girl of My Best Friend • Aranjuez Mon Amour • Wave • Solitaire • Mean to Me / Sweet Lorraine • More / Perfidia / Meditation.

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