Bounty628's Full Review: Entrain Live Vol. 1: Rise Up * by Entrain
When one thinks about Martha's Vineyard, images of a different style of living often come to mind. A life that is different than most of us is often associated with the island off the coast of Massachusetts and traditionally images of wealth and things associated with being rich are often conjured up.
Although the island is known for its aristocratic appeal, the island is also known for a band that calls it home. The parallel is somewhat remarkable. The musical sounds of Entrain carry a very rich sound and the music is much different than what could be considered traditional or mainstream. Although the music of Entrain is in no way aristocratic, perhaps the music could be classified as being a class above most other music. When one listens to Entrain, you can soon realize that many bourgeoisie sounding musical bands simply pale in comparison to the fine sounds of Entrain.
Focusing largely on smooth percussion sounds, Entrain has a sound that will keep your feet tapping throughout their songs. With a heavy emphasis on both a rock and roll sound mixed with heavy reggae underlying tunes, Entrain's album Rise Up: Live Volume 1 is a great album by a band that is sure to beat their way into many stereos across the region. This album is a compilation of live tracks from three different venues in Massachusetts: Joker's in New Bedford, Woods Hole Community Hall in Woods Hole, and Sit n Bull in Maynard. Although the tracks are live recordings, the quality of each track is of the highest quality and I found the live tracks to be remarkably not-grainy, as so many live tracks tend to be.
The musicians within Entrain are Tom Major (drums, percussion, vocals), Brian Alex (guitar, lead vocal, timbales), Same Holmstock (trombone, djembe, congas, vocals, keyboard, Cajun rub board, percussion, talking drum), Klem Klimex (sax, vocals, keyboard, percussion), Lenny Bradford (bass, vocals, percussion), Francisco Rosado (congas, timbales, percussion), and Ray de Jesus (congas and percussion).
The album starts out right and is a great way to get the proverbial taste for what the album is going to offer by having the song Mo Drums start the album off. Based solely on the heavy beating of percussion sounds, Mo Drums gives the listener the notion that the rest of the live album is going to rely heavily upon the heavy beating of deep percussion sounds. The track is a deep and inviting track that shows the keen percussion work of Entrain and beautifully highlights the course that the album is bound to take.
One of the most musically impressive songs I have heard on an album in a long time comes on the track Mother Street . This song is eleven minutes thirty eight seconds long and from the very beginning throughout the end of the track, the song is an amazing work of musical genius.
River Run is a musically interesting song that relies on a deep Calypso sound mixed with a feeling that is reminiscent of a jam band or a band such as Dispatch. This song conjures up imagery of sitting on deck of a cruise ship or sitting on a beach on Martha’s Vineyard, drinking a cool Margarita and tapping your feet to the beats.
Anyway is an interesting song that is somewhat slower in comparison to most of the songs on this album. The chorus lends itself to the possibility of having audience members chime in to the chorus at a live performance.
Mexican Bus is another marvelous track on the CD that relies heavily on the horn section of the band. The Mexican vibe is instantly felt and the tune is so musically diverse that it is a must listen to track.
Track listing:
1. Mo Drums
2. River Run
3. Uncle Jolly
4. Cohiba
5. Anyway
6. Mother Street
7. Shine On
8. Dancing in the Light
9. Jeannie
10. Rise Up
11. Mexican Bus
Rise Up is a very well produced album and falls within a genre of music that could be classified in simply one word, Entrain. The band has found a musical niche that is unique, while being well developed and fantastic sounding.
Rise Up: Live Volume 1 is manufactured by Dolphin-Safe Records out of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts and is produced by Rounder Select.
For more information about the band, please check out their website www.entrain.com.
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