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EVOLUTION OF JAZZRAPTOR (2003)
After listening to the first track of Jack
Foster III's debut album Evolution of Jazzraptor, you can be
forgiven for thinking you've got Jack figured out. Bohemian Soul is
a luscious, stirring, alternative rock ballad. And it's easy to
think you've pegged him as another alternative rock
singer/songwriter.
But a few seconds into the second track, Cat's Gone Nine, and it's
clear that Foster is also comfortable traveling into territory known
for swampy blues roots music.
And then comes the third track, Feel It When I Sting , in which Jack
and producer Trent Gardner (Magellan, Explorers Club) dust off the
synthesizer for a classic progressive rock sound.
Wait, there are still more genre turns ahead. Tiger Bone Wine and
Lucifer's Rat turn up the heat - and the Stratocaster dirt - for
some nostalgic rock, And Nirvana in the Notes is a sensitive ballad
inspired by jazz piano virtuoso Shelly Berg (who tickles the keys on
this extended track and credits include Chicago, The Royal
Philharmonic, Bonnie Raitt and the LA jazz scene).
Soon it all becomes clear - Jack Foster III is a genre bender of the
highest order.
But here's the surprising kicker: the songs work together
brilliantly, made cohesive by Jack's sensitive voice, and
sophisticated - but never intrusive - arranging by Trent Gardner,
who plays keyboard on most of the tracks, and a steady back beat
supplied by renown producer Robert Berry on bass and drums.
The inventive lyrics (many written with co-lyricist Melanie Myers)
range from poetic introspection to social commentary - but they
never traffic in the negative or the pedantic. These lyrics could
very well stand on their own without a musical note behind them.
The glue that holds all the tracks together so deftly is Jack's
mature and wistful world view. And then it dawns on you: Jack is a
philosopher with a guitar in his hands. And like all good
philosophers he's on a journey of exploration.
Thankfully for us, Jack's terrain is song. This album brings us to
many interesting vistas - all worth visiting. And after listening to
all nine songs on Jazzraptor , one can only hope that Jack's journey
has just begun, and he'll share with us on future albums whatever
musical insights he may discover during his exploration of song. |
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RAPTORGNOSIS (2005)
With this
follow-up to "Evolution of Jazzraptor", I attempted to put a
coherent message -- a gnostic theme -- across 12 tracks of music.
EoJ was more or less a collection of strong but unconnected songs. I
wanted to loosely unify the music with the second album.
That being said, I didn't want to go overboard! I meant for the
gnostic theme of Raptorgnosis to be more practical than religious.
After all, modern gnostics, with no dogma attached, think of
religion as practical mythology. That seems about right to me. I
certainly didn't want to be taken too seriously. So when I sing
"Hippy eye yiy kay is my koan" on the third track, I'm winking at my
audience!
Which doesn't mean that there aren't serious moments in Raptorgnosis.
Ebb and Flow is a progressive epic which compares a spiritual family
life of human love, bonding people together, with corrupt political
leaders who push Americans to war and to killing: the opposite of
gnosis. The spoken word piece, Gnosis, borrows directly from the
Gospel of Thomas -- an early Gnostic Christian work dated from the
first century.
At any rate, there are some very strong musical moments on this
album of which I'm very proud. Heaven On Earth, Worst Enemy,
Tremble, Mean Solar Day, and Strange New Muse all break some new
ground. I hope you get a chance to enjoy! |
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TAME UNTIL HUNGRY (2007)
This
album was criticized by some within the progressive community for
not being "progressive" enough, but it is actually my favorite album
of the three. There's more of a singer-songwriter orientation, and
the focus is definitely the "song"! It's also the first of the three
where I play pretty much ALL of the guitar on the album, and indeed,
most of the songs began their production lives with me coming in and
playing an acoustic guitar foundation.
The strongest exception to that weak rule comes with the track "The
Solution". We finished "No Tears Left" with the Steve Miller phrase
"Whoa, there's a solution." Upon listening to the song, one of us
(probably Trent, but I don't really remember) said, "So, now we need
a song called The Solution!" A challenge! Trent took the lead in
laying down a bed of music, which started, uncharacteristically
enough with . . . the drum tracks! (Played brilliantly by Andy
Eberhard.) I was challenged with writing the lyrics, which is more
difficult than one might think. I mean, people have been trying to
figure out solutions to world problems for eons, and I was suddenly
supposed to solve everything in a 7 minute song!
But no more stories. Tame Until Hungry is just SO listen-able from
beginning to end. Jump in with Trent, Robert, and me! |
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JAZZRAPTOR'S SECRET (2008)
With
Jacks 4th collaboration with Trent Gardner (Magellan) and Robert
Berry in 5 years, we see the music really coalesce stylistically
into something distinctive. The musical range is still there, but
Trent, Robert and Jack have developed a sound that's unique and
quite unmistakable.
The album is extremely broad-ranged, exploring the mature themes of
war, politics, marriage, and spirituality. But Jack makes these
explorations without taking himself too seriously, and without
preaching or being too demanding upon the listener. The music is
rock with progressive and jazz influences, focusing on unique
textures and feels, with a sophisticated palette of exploration. |
