Search - Ronny Jordan :: After 8

Holding up the end for the london side

M. Hedges | London, UK | 05/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Seems to be a lot of negative vibes for our london boy's latest release , i will admit "Brighter days" is surely gonna be hard to beat , but true jordan fans should seek this out for the satisfying if simple "say no more" "search to find" and "steppin out".For the killer track (and ronny always has a killer track) check the opening title track co-written with the son of the one and only George Benson.I know collectors that will buy the album for the title track alone."

Disappointing

Coen | Colorado Springs | 01/12/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Ronny Jordan his first 2 albums, "The Antidote" and "The Quiet Revolution" launched his career. He was called the new George Benson. Every track of these 2 albums was really great. I bought all his albums since then, but his later albums were never as good as those first 2. I admire that he tries all different kind of styles. On this album he tries evening background music. The tracks often start strong, but than it does not build, it becomes a lullaby. Boring, and I almost never play it."

Middle of the road, repetitive... and boring...

Torquemada | Atlanta, Georgia USA / Madrid, Spain. | 11/12/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"First off, Ronny Jordan is a great guitarist. Compared to George Benson and Wes Montgomery, he does sound at times like these two masters. There is also an Earl Klugh feeling at times in his playing.



His first album (The Antidote) created the greatest expectations. Follow up The Quiet Revolution was good, not great. Third album was very good Light to Dark. Since then, not too much to rejoice about with uneven releases, quality wise. This his latest delivery is a big flop in my opinion. Why ?



Well, this is just another example on how slippery the slope of "smooth jazz" has become in the last 5-6 years. The music is repetitive and flat. It is so bad that you end up wondering if there are actual musicians on this cd. Sure, Ronny Jordan excels in the guitar playing, but I feel he either was a bit short of ideas (or energy), or that he got contaminated by the dullness of the rest of the music. If you get a closer hearing at all the songs, you actually get the impression everything is just programmed and gets in a loop from the beginning to the end of the track.

Sounds like computer music.



Who is to blame ? Well, we have Gene Lake on drums, playing without failure, but without any passion. We don't know who plays bass (maybe a machine does), and the keyboards and programming are shared between Dario Boente and Bernard Mason. Again, Ronny Jordan is a top of the line guitarist, but the rest isn't there. I've listened to the whole cd several times (just to make sure I wasn't judging based on a mood type of thing) and still can't get hooked up to it.



I should have guessed by the cover sleeve picture that this was going to be a disappointment (Ronny, on a comfortable couch, dressed in a smoking with black bowtie...uh ?). But I did not think it would go in the (wrong) direction smooth jazz has taken for a while now. Having said this, the last two cuts of this cd are much better than the rest of the album. Now, whether you want to spend your money on a 53 minutes cd (yes, sounds like a vinyl duration) with only two worthy tracks is a personal choice. I would skip it. And stick to the two albums I mentioned above."