Search - Sean Jones :: Eternal Journey

Finally, Competition for Roy Hargrove

Marty Nickison II | Austintown, OH | 06/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The sound of the trumpet has a dynamic range and contrast. For a bite, one might try Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie. For a dark sound, we can always find a mono recording of the great Clifford Brown. However, one sonic signature of the trumpet that is hard to locate in jazz hierarchy would be mellow and soft. Many flood at any musician that can emulate this rare sound. It's a scarce tone that builds another platform in the sound tapestry of jazz music. It's new; and new is good in jazz. I'm sure Miles or Coltrane would have concurred.The soft sound is found in two `young lions': Roy Hargrove and Sean Jones. For them, the music texture (with songs anywhere from Greens At The Chicken Shack to Somewhere Over The Rainbow) is always soft; lyrical, warm, and ethereal. Listening to them is a lesson in the peace of the pace, the calm of the colors, the embodiment of the eternal. It's a slower-paced swing that very few have heard before. In this album, the debut from Sean Jones, the title has a lot to do with the sound of the production. This album has an eternal, ethereal, and enlightened tone to it. It's has the bounce of any Joshua Redman or McCoy Tyner album, but a soft tone that relaxes the mind and soul like a Mahler symphony. Simply stated, this album is mellow and swinging.I would recommend this album to ANY fans of Roy Hargrove, bar none! It's a soft tone that was prevalent in the 1960's recordings of Jim Hall, Paul Desmond, and the Miles Davis/Gil Evans sessions (Sketches of Spain). It's a new Kind of Blue, but a bit slower and more harmonic. Bill Evan's fans will enjoy the harmonic seascape Mr. Jones puts down. I recommend this album hands down. As a fan who saw him play late nights at jazz clubs in the Youngstown area, I see he still doesn't cease to amaze me. Take a listen and discover the cool meets the calm meets to colorations meets the compositions."

He's unreal...

J. Auth | Pittsburgh, PA | 10/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a music student at Duquesne University, I've been fortunate enough to have studied jazz under Sean Jones for the past year. The guy is simply the best trumpet player I've ever heard. His range, tone, phrasing, style and attitude are all worthy of the highest praise. Even as a guitar player, I turn to Sean's playing for inspiration as well as improvisational ideas. He has a unique gift of being able to tell a story through his music without ever saying a word. I've been raving about Sean Jones to every music fan I know ever since I first heard him two years ago, and I hope this album gets him all the national attention he deserves."