CD Review: Joseph Sullinger's 'Earth Voyage'

Joseph Sullinger
Earth Voyage
Soundship Music

Based in Mexico, Joseph Sullinger explores the world of smooth, Latin fusion with a touch of flamenco, new age, and classical elements with lively percussion. The fusion sounds of guitar and percussion resemble the music of Ottmar Liebert or Strunz and Farah. The ten tracks are named after various elemental terms, including "New Shores," "The Ocean," and "Sands of Time." The instrumental compositions are perfect for any earthly voyage at any time. Matthew Montfort and Ancient Future are two other musicians with a knack for latin fusion and classical guitar. Joseph is accompanied by the members of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to classical guitar, the violin, tuba, melodion, electric bass, keyboards, synth, and drums round out the instrumental repertoire. Start your earthly voyage with Joseph Sullinger's 'Earth Voyage'. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: 'Sangria' Bubbles with Rhythm

Mariah Parker
Sangria
Ancient-Future

The CD cover describes the musical content as, "An Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience". That is probably a pretty good summation of Mariah Parker's debut release, Sangria, which is Spanish for 'bloody'. Notably, 'sangria' is usually referred to as a red wine. In that case, Mariah's piano and santur playing is definitely intoxicating. Mariah is joined by Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretless guitar/flamenco guitar, Kash Killion on bass/cello, Debopriyo Sarkar and Anuradha Pal on tabla, Duru Demetrius on percussion, Mindia Devi Klein on flute, Paul McCandless on sax/horn, and Brian Rice on timbales. The songs are warm, inviting, and indicative of a world jazz release. The tracks are completely void of vocalizations. Sangria includes musicians from bands such as Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. Explore the world through the music of Mariah Parker. ~ Matthew Forss