
Full disclosure: Jaron Lamar Davis is a personal friend of mine and frequent appearance here on the website; BUT that doesnโt keep me from giving my fair reaction and opinion to his debut album. Now jazz has never really been my cup of tea despite hearing it from my popsโ stereo for much of my life, but Iโve grown to appreciate itโs subtleties more as Iโve matured. For being a debut album from a professional drummer what immediately jumped out at me was the actual lack of drumming. Well, not the lack of drumming but itโs non-overpowering presence. At some points a trumpet is front and center, at other points itโs a piano, and others the drums, and so on and so on. Itโs all dictated by the nature of the song and general vibe heโs trying to create instead of just giving us a collection of drumming exhibitions disguised as songs, and I appreciated this. But when the drumming does take center stage itโs exceptional and in fact my favorite moment on the album is the song โTalking Drumsโ where he goes in for 6 and a half minutes long. Itโs the song that most hip-hop heads like myself will really gravitate towards. The rest of the album is smooth and crisp and left me with a much deeper appreciation for all the nuances of jazz as a genre and itโs an album I find myself throwing on often to really unwind.
โWaiting in between the lines of you
Loving underneath the shade of blue
Like a kiss in the night
Like water from storms
I am waiting for our timeโ
Have you heardย My Views Through the Lens of Music? Whatโd you think about it? For a self-produced debut album how do you think Jaron Lamar Davis did? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your own ratings and reactions to the album. And be sure to give it a listen if you havenโt already.
