{"id":37251,"date":"2015-09-03T15:23:44","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T20:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejewishinsights.com\/wp\/?p=37251"},"modified":"2015-09-04T11:13:50","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T16:13:50","slug":"ready-lives-check-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejewishinsights.com\/wp\/ready-lives-check-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"READY FOR SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY LIVES UP TO ITS NAME? CHECK OUT \u201cBRAND NEW\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

A perfectly entertaining mix of music, mindset with just a bit of midlife crisis thrown in to keep things interesting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every so often an album comes along that\u2019s a statement rather than merely a collection of songs. The difference? A statement album \u201canswers to a higher authority\u201d\u2014as in the performer\/producer\u2019s own standards, rather than the usual panel(s) of experts, whose only real goal seems to often be to finding a way to emulate (without sounding like you\u2019re emulating) the sound\/style of someone who has already \u201ccracked the code\u201d and produced a hit or two.<\/p>\n

As anyone who\u2019s experienced Lenny Friedman<\/strong>\u2019s new album will attest to, \u201cBrand New<\/strong>\u201d(the name of his project and the vision behind it) , is definitely a \u201cstatement album\u201d. Does it have it\u2019s \u201cmainstream moments?\u201d For sure, there\u2019s 2 live recording appropriately entitled \u201cLenny\u2019s Jewish Jams<\/strong>\u201d, as well as a tribute to \u201cAbie Rotenberg featuring Lenny on \u201cacapella trumpet\u2019(4+ tracks of it) augmented by some gently nuanced percussion (also courtesy of Lenny). On top of that, there\u2019s also a selection that showcases Lenny\u2019s brass-work on standards like \u201cSomewhere Over The Rainbow\u201d as well as a number of original songs with lyrics by Lenny and vocals by the irrepressible Michael Ian Elias. Is \u201cBrand New\u201d anywhere near your cookie cutter JM production with the typical rock \u2018em ,sock em, \u201cYid Hop\u201d deja vu or another \u201cShlomo inspired\u201d soul piece in need of soul and a bit more peace?.<\/p>\n

Hardly. When your father studied with the legendary Gene Krupa<\/strong>, you\u2019re going to hear music–any music differently and perform it refreshingly. Add to that Lenny\u2019s own disconcerting level of discipline & determination\u2014he spent the 80\u2019s as a hot, up & comer “club-date” brass player, until he took a self-imposed hiatus for 25 (or possibly closer to 30) years during which time he raised a family and built a business. <\/p>\n