FEATURED CD - Story of a Life: Story of a Life

[Duncan Glenday]

We only feature fairly old CDs, allowing the music to settle and mature with listeners, which we think yields a more meaningful discussion.

But on rare occasions, for artists we know very well, we'll break the rules

Per SoT dude:

The 'story' of Story of a Life goes all the way back to 1997, when Athens, Georgia musicians Sean Tonar (guitar) and Brian 'Thor' Coutts (drums) met and decided to form a band. After various line-up incarnations and some recording, the members of Story of a Life drifted apart, formed other groups, and didn't meet up again until 2009 when Thor happened to find Sean online and the band once again were a working unit. Enter bassist Stephen Cox and keyboard player Bill Graham for the brand new version of Story of a Life, and we have here their debut CD.

Sort of a hybrid of jazz-fusion, progressive rock, funk, and jam, Story of a Life fill their instrumental tunes with plenty of melody, tasty chops, and atmosphere. "Anything" reminds a bit of Happy the Man or Camel, with tranquil keyboard tapestries, airy rhythms, and liquid guitar lines, while "Globetrekker" takes a more direct fusion approach with some fiery grooves and lots of lean soloing. In fact, '70s fusion lovers will certainly gravitate towards the sumptuous sounds of "Continental Blue", as Graham tosses in some daring Hancock/Corea styled synth passages over layers of tight, Latin funk grooves. Tonar's guitar responds with melodic precision, the whole band really firing on all cylinders and creating a wonderful tune here. "Lucid Dream" slows things down a bit, as dreamy atmosphere creeps in thanks to some alluring keyboard textures and intoxicating rhythms, with Tonar's guitar runs owing to the greats Wes Montgomery, George Benson, and Lee Ritenour. The song eventually builds to a more rumbling, upbeat finale, like a head-on collision of Return to Forever, Yes, and Camel. On "Travellin' Light", Tonar blends acoustic & electric guitar patterns over Graham's majestic electric piano and intoxicating rhythms from Cox & Thor, a great mixing of jazz-fusion & prog influences. Listen and you'll hear some Gentle Giant, Happy the Man, Weather Report, Brand X, Yes, Camel...well, you get the picture.

If you have a soft spot for instrumental prog/jazz-fusion with plenty of nods to the greats of the '70s, then you'll certainly need to get your hands on this one. The CD was mixed by Neil Kernon, who has worked with practically everyone under the sun over the years, and I don't think I need to tell you it sounds fantastic. This one comes out in September 2014, so mark it on your calendars.

Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score: 4.5 stars

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/revi...ntent&id=16380

[Duncan Glenday]

Oh - and here's an interview with said favored artist:

http://www.rebelnoi.se/interviews/in...tory-of-a-life

[Duncan Glenday]

AND...

Where do ya think said favored artist got the idea for his CD art work?!?

[Digital_Man]

Heh, yeah I probably wouldn't have made that connection unless you pointed it out Duncan.

[Sean]

Me either! I always figured it was a ripoff of Fragile. Right down to the backwards E piano note that starts the first song.

[Duncan Glenday]

Yah...I see now that you have that Roger Dean-esaue font as well.

Sent Via Progressive Ears's Mobile App

[Duncan Glenday]

Still ... ignoring the cover art for a bit ... what do y'all think about the music?

Sent Via Progressive Ears's Mobile App

[bob_32_116]

AND...

Where do ya think said favored artist got the idea for his CD art work?!?

Sue the pants off the bugger!

[bob_32_116]

Still ... ignoring the cover art for a bit ... what do y'all think about the music?

Sent Via Progressive Ears's Mobile App

It's easy enough to listen to, without making me think "Wow, I must have this".

Continental Drift sounds a lot some some "house" disco music - not that I'm suggesting that's necessarily a bad thing.

Sent via bob_32_116's desktop PC typed on an old-fashioned keyboard

[Sean]

Yeah, for maybe a minute then it goes elsewhere.

[progeezer]

I've really enjoyed it from the jump. It speaks to me better than Speechless.

[Interstellar]

It's the only album I bought this summer (thanks to the thread on this forum), and it was a perfect gift to myself : the music feels warm and sweet, and features the kind of sounds I love. It really makes me feel good anytime I play it. It almost has a therapeutic effect. I don't want to overanalyse it, it just works for me !! Thanks to the band.

[JKL2000]

^ Agree. It's quality music, and good value for money.

[Jerjo]

I gotta be in the right mood for this one but yeah, it scratches that itch for tasty fusion.

[Sean]

Thanks Duncan for featuring this this weekend. And thank you all for taking the time to listen.

"the music feels warm and sweet, and features the kind of sounds I love. It really makes me feel good anytime I play it. It almost has a therapeutic effect. I don't want to overanalyse it, it just works for me !!"

I don't know a better feeling of musical success than this^^. It's great to know it connected with you!

This album was one that was a few years in the making and in a way, more than that. I'm pleased with the end result though of course there's things I would have done differently had I known better at the time. For home recording though I think it turned out damn good. Also, Neil Kernon's final mix really brought out a lot of definition and clarity and I thank him again now. I was after a mid 70s production that was somewhere between fusion and Steely and I think we nailed it.

Now I have a feeling of "been there, done that" when it comes to funky, quasi-fusion and we are hard at work writing our follow up which is going to be more of a prog power trio album with a bit of keys around the edges for color. Not necessarily metal though, as many of those are. Some songs may go there, but others won't. So far it sort of reminds me of the Dregs meets Santana meets Rush, though there's more going on that that. I have the whole band writing this time so some songs are driven by the drums, some by the bass. I wrote 3 or 4 tunes for it too including a new epic that is more classically inspired than jazz this time. It's taking awhile to arrange, that one.... Some of these songs are more compact and immediate than any on the debut and most were written around melodies first. I think there's probably more odd meters on this new one too though we never deliberately use them, they just kinda happen if the song asks for them.

We hope to have it out the end of next Summer if all goes to plan. It will be a full length album too with even a couple (gasp!) VOCAL tracks. Every time we hunker down to write we get another gig so squeezing it all in has been a balancing act.

Thanks again for your progressive ears! Music matters most when people hear it....

-S

[Interstellar]

Sean, the next album sounds promising. Who will do the singing ?

[Scott Bails]

AND...

Where do ya think said favored artist got the idea for his CD art work?!?

[Sean]

Sean, the next album sounds promising. Who will do the singing ?

It's up in the air at the moment. We have a singer for our cover gigs that might wind up doing it. Unless I can find a special guest that is known. Time will tell.....

[Progatron]

Lovely little disc that I've enjoyed spinning quite a few times. Looking forward to the next one!

[Phlakaton]

I enjoyed it first time through. Lots of nice moments. I think it could go a touch more grotty on some on some of the tone - but that's purely my Dave Stewart side talking... ala - Egg.

[Sean]

Thanks, all!

Here's a link to stream the whole thing to hear it in context. There's three tracks that are not in the thread above too. Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/story-of-a-li...m-mastered-mix

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

luv me sum Prog of the Fusion variety!
I've been meaning to get this album... it's still on my want list

[bill g]

Hadn't heard this one before I must admit, but I sure love the two clips. Killer stuff. Great melodically, with tasty warm chords. I can't find the disc at synphonic, lasers edge, or amazon. Best place to purchase?

[Sean]

Hey, Bill!

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you dug it!

At the moment we only have digital versions available-

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

We will restock the physical CDs in a month or so, we are having a new batch printed up and should have those over at CDBaby before long but at the moment the digital is the way to go. Cheaper too.

[bill g]

Thanks Sean. Downloaded!