Postcards From California
Jazz
| Dec 2003
Reviews
Craig Matsumoto
Reviewed 2003-12-13
Reviewed 2003-12-13
Solo electric bass, often overdubbed. Very melodic and pleasant, sometimes a bit too pleasant, with good helpings of blues, country and Brazilian music... but also some out-there wackyness (1, 6, 13).
Looking at the package, you go in expecting New Age or that dreaded "rockin'" variety of smooth jazz (see 1, 14) ... but it's got some decent innovation and a good sense of humor, which counts.
Good slabs of blues and jazz/rock in here, but mostly it's mellow; Combs focuses more on song structure and melody than on showing off his chops. Lots of stretchy rubber-band sounds from the basses, and lots of guitar-like soloing.
See the band Living Daylights for a comparison; they're manic and funky but still very conventional in feel; Combs is like a gentle Sunday-morning version of their stuff. I liked this CD, but I suspect the stuff could sound pretty cheesy with a full band.
1- Mildly funky with drums. Cool freak-out solo
2- Slow country/blues loping
3- Mid/fast, pretty. Could be an Xmas tune
4*- Twisty and fast. Ornette composition
5- Mid/fast snippet
6*- Midtempo cowboy folkie, with some space-age touches. Funny.
7- Quiet solo
8- Breezy smooth-rock number
9- Kind of a kicking '30s jazz feel
10*- Swaying, drunk, and a bit folky
11- Complex and skippy, like prog rock
12- Mid/slow, gamely melodic
13*- Dark and dire, nearly industrial
14- Quasi-Santana Mexican blues
15- Midtempo, mildly bluesy
16*- Stevie Wonder cover, pleasant and slowly bouncy
Looking at the package, you go in expecting New Age or that dreaded "rockin'" variety of smooth jazz (see 1, 14) ... but it's got some decent innovation and a good sense of humor, which counts.
Good slabs of blues and jazz/rock in here, but mostly it's mellow; Combs focuses more on song structure and melody than on showing off his chops. Lots of stretchy rubber-band sounds from the basses, and lots of guitar-like soloing.
See the band Living Daylights for a comparison; they're manic and funky but still very conventional in feel; Combs is like a gentle Sunday-morning version of their stuff. I liked this CD, but I suspect the stuff could sound pretty cheesy with a full band.
1- Mildly funky with drums. Cool freak-out solo
2- Slow country/blues loping
3- Mid/fast, pretty. Could be an Xmas tune
4*- Twisty and fast. Ornette composition
5- Mid/fast snippet
6*- Midtempo cowboy folkie, with some space-age touches. Funny.
7- Quiet solo
8- Breezy smooth-rock number
9- Kind of a kicking '30s jazz feel
10*- Swaying, drunk, and a bit folky
11- Complex and skippy, like prog rock
12- Mid/slow, gamely melodic
13*- Dark and dire, nearly industrial
14- Quasi-Santana Mexican blues
15- Midtempo, mildly bluesy
16*- Stevie Wonder cover, pleasant and slowly bouncy
Recent airplay
Crossing Currents
Memory Select — Oct 21, 2005
Rubber Band
Memory Select — Jan 30, 2004
Tell Me Something Good
No Cover, No Minimum — Jan 16, 2004
Red River Valley
Memory Select — Jan 09, 2004
Tomorrow Is the Question!
Memory Select — Dec 12, 2003
Charting
2003-12-08 — 2004-02-09
Jazz
| Week Ending | Airplays |
|---|---|
| Feb 1 | 1 |
| Jan 18 | 1 |
| Jan 11 | 1 |
| Dec 14 | 1 |
Track listing
| 1. | Rubber Band | ||
| 2. | Return to Sender | ||
| 3. | Descendo a Serra | ||
| 4. | Tomorrow Is the Question! | ||
| 5. | Wind Up Bird | ||
| 6. | Red River Valley | ||
| 7. | On Too Long | ||
| 8. | West Wind | ||
| 9. | Segura Ele | ||
| 10. | Postcards From California | ||
| 11. | Crossing Currents | ||
| 12. | Shattered Bread Knife | ||
| 13. | On Too Long Reprise | ||
| 14. | Foreign Postmark | ||
| 15. | Wade in the Water | ||
| 16. | Tell Me Something Good |