The Previous

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Sometimes we forget how incredibly famous The Previous actually were back in the 1990's. This collection of rave reviews and in-depth interviews should make it perfectly clear that there was a time when you couldn't pick up a newspaper without reading of their madcap escapades, or turn on the radio without hearing an Andras Jones song.

Oh wait, that's what they told themselves was going to happen. In actuality, it was only a brave and far-thinking few who recognized the wealth of talent beneath the total lack of fashion sense which was (and still threatens to be) The Previous. Here is a collection of these writings in chronological order starting with the most recent.

2000

Friday, May 12, 2000

Andras Jones continues to follow righteous path to success

For The Olympian
Olympia singer/actor Andras Jones releases his new CD, "A Curmudgeon for All Seasons," with a party Saturday at Radio Ranch.

BILL COMPTON, FOR THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- Olympia's Andras Jones leads a kaleidoscopic artistic life. One turn gives you the actor, with 10 film roles over the past 12 years, and another gives you the entrepreneur with his own music label.

The next turn gives you the social activist who participated in the WTO demonstrations in Seattle and on May Day in Olympia. Another turn gives you his archival work with Rickie Lee Jones and his hosting of the Radio 8-Ball show at KAOS, The Evergreen State College's community radio station.

What holds these shapes and hues together is his musical aesthetic, based on the integrity of being a writer/musician who does not shape his songs for traditional commercial formats.

The singer-songwriter will officially release his latest CD, "A Curmudgeon For All Seasons," at a party on Saturday. The acoustic concert also features English singer Sheila Nicholls, who has made music news recently for her song featured in the hit John Cusack movie "High Fidelity."

In a recent conversation after the completion of his Tuesday two-hour radio show, Jones talked about the advantages and disadvantages of being an independent, self-managed artist in a mass culture that equates success with mega-sales and cliches with originality.

"Being an artist is about a connection between you and the person listening," Jones said. "When people buy one of my CDs, they're buying it because of their personal experience of the music. They're not buying it because of the famous name on it, or from radio play, or because it's fashionable."

One artist Jones has major respect for is Rickie Lee Jones, who has followed her own muse as a writer, sometimes at the price of being dropped by record labels.

"You can see integrity all the way through her career from the first release (in 1979), which was poppy jazz, and the ones that came next when she took her music in completely different directions," Jones says of the singer who attended Timberline High School.

One of Jones' current side projects is to sort through boxes of concert and rehearsal tapes collected over the years and put out a live CD of her work. The eventual release will be on a new local label, Great Big Island.

Jones is not opposed to commercial success, but he doesn't want it at any price. "I'd like to be recognized more, partly because of what I'm singing about, and I'd like more financial security, but I'm not ready to hand over my career to a large company." he says. "I believe in making the music I want to make, and of course I'd like more money for studio costs, but I'm willing to do it on limited budgets."

Jones sees his work in films and television as a necessary complement to what he does with his music, and he's paid well for his work. "I actually get a lot of writing done when I'm making a film," he says. "It's such a creative environment. But it's also a crazily intense scene and I couldn't do that all the time."

In 1988, after various acting jobs in Los Angeles in commercials, rock videos and television shows, he was cast in "Nightmare On Elm Street 4." He has also appeared in the Drew Barrymore film "Far From Home" (1989) and "The Prom" (1995) with Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Jones' most recent film work is for the independently produced film "The Attic Expeditions," which he describes as a "smart psychological thriller." He plays the lead, whose mind is being messed with both physically and symbolically. His co-star is Seth Green, known for his role as Scott Evil in the "Austin Powers" movies. The film is scheduled for a late fall release.

Locally, Jones will perform in July in "The Transfused" a punk rock opera by Nomy Lamm and The Need. And he's excited about it: "I'm impressed with the quality of the writing and the music; it's punk in perspective, but the music is melodic and the lyrics are out front, so you don't miss them."

Jones sees "A Curmudgeon For All Seasons" as the most overtly political statement he has made. Using our iconic national holidays like the Fourth of July, Christmas and Thanksgiving as a conceptual base, he brings a clear-eyed, Swiftian edge to songs about the corruption he sees in the American story, both historically and today.

"When you look outside yourself, it's just obvious that things need to be said, and this is one way I do it," Jones says. "It's amazing what can happen. Maybe I'm playing a gig with a handful of people and I think it really sucked, but then three years later someone e-mails me that a song or a line changed their life."

Jones is sharing the bill at the CD release party with Sheila Nicholls, who he describes as "a singer whose approach to melody reminds me of Billy Joel or Paul McCartney but whose lyrics are inventive in an Elvis Costello kind of way." Nicholls, who operates her own Ani DiFranco-style label in England, has just signed a contract with Hollywood records for distribution in the U.S.

1998

NEW YORK CITY - OCTOBER '98

A few weeks ago Jon Berger was passing out CD's to be reviewed (after having culled the bands he liked and anything with a cute girl on the cover) and I thought, "hey, I'd like some free CD's" Now I've got a nasty cold, my neck's immobile, the stuff I've been working on at my job has me one step short of bringing a shotgun to the Time & Life Building and shooting everyone in management, and guess what, today's the deadline for my review!
Nothing in life is free.
Some critics would just rip a few bands apart to get out their aggressions, but instead I'll start with the best CD of the bunch; UnPop by The Previous. The title's an outright lie: this is as pop as you're going to get, with bright, catchy little tunes about despair, longing, anguish and corduroy pants. Fronted by Andras Jones (I assume the geeky kid in the boy scout uniform on the album cover is his), who seems to hold the laudable belief that there's not much reason to write a song over three minutes (one son'g 4 seconds long, but it's silent), The Previous, with their witty lyrics ("I wish I could get my tongue so far inside your ear it scrathed you brain.") and bouncy tunes remind me of other great bands lie Anton Barbeau and The Joyboys or The Sutcliffes. In other words, they're one of these great bands no one's ever heard of and probably never will.
UnPop is, I think, a theme album. This is suggested by a brief biography on the inner cover of one, Dennis Bland, a loser in corduroy pants who's adolescent experiences aound a lot like mine. Certainly there is an overriding theme in "Get Normal" and "Nerd's Night In" of incredible geekiness. There's even a song called "He's In Love" that tells the old infatuation story from the point of view of the object of adoration ("you'd think he'd know, by all the signs I show…").
This is one of those albums that you love the first time and then keep realizing that it's better than you thought it was. I don't know where you'd buy it, but keep an eye out for these guys. ____Charles Herold

1997

___If you like bands with a sense of humor-i.e. the Dead Milkmen, Ween, or king Missile-have I got the concert for you. But before I tell you the name of the band and where they're playing, let me tell you about their concept album "UnPop…". It tells the story of Dennis Bland, a dprofoundly dorky high scholl geek whose runaway libido gets him in big trouble.
___It seems Dennis has the big heart-pounder for his cutie neighbor, and one day when she shows him a little kindness, je proclaims his true love for her. "Not only does she respond less than passionately to Dennis' stammering proclamation of love, but she goes and blabs about it to everyone, including her boyfriend, who is very large for his age. Dennis knows a storm is coming and the he is going to be the one getting rained on. His plan is simple: hide forever"-this according to the album's liner notes.

___I don't want to ruin the story for you, but Dennis decides to stand up for himself in an effort to make the world safe for himself and all other dorks like him because he saw a similar situation on a TV show and it turned out all right in the end. But as the band says, "Unfortunately for Dennis this is rock 'n roll, not TV, and he gets his ass kicked."
___Who could have come up with such a crazy, realistic premise? Andras Jones, leader of The Previous, previously known as Mr. Jones and The Previous are one of those amazingly successful DIY bands that record, produce and, up until recently when K Records took the helm, distribute their own records.
___ In a world of derivative rock bands trying to ride eachother's coatttails to the big record contract in the sky, The Previous is a true original.

___In a world of derivative rock bands trying to ride eachother's coatttails to the big record contract in the sky, The Previous is a true original.
___ The album opens appropriately with the tune "Can't Get Normal": I can't get normal, you see, I'm a witness, I was at the slaughter, I saw the bodies floating in the water. I can't get normal with everyone looking at me." Then comes "Corduroy": "Everyone, everywhere, is sure to hear the pants I wear; they're corduroy. You see, on about my first day of school I learned what it meant to be truly cool. I'd wear the thing that no one else will, make sure I'm truly dressed to kill in corduroy. Oh boy! Oh joy! Corduroy."
___ Ah, the fine line between total dorkiness and inspired art! This is fun stuff, and the music is better than good. I'm going to have to go ahead and call this my pick of the week. See The Previous the Friday, October 17th, at SLO Brewing Co. with their Canadian friends Bob Wiseman and The Binder Specialists.

Looking back with Bland anger
The Previous take teen angst seriously with a sly sense of humor
by Mike Bell

Hey, loser. Mopey, spotty schlub sitting in the cafeteria corner by yourself reading Maximum Rock N Roll and jotting down names for the band you and your one ugly friend are someday going to form (The Scully's... The Y Me? Files... Suicidal Borgs...). Guess what? You've got a friend. Someone who cares and who can relate to the pathetic little thing you call a life.

No, it's not me, you sad little assface. I've got enough of my own problems to contend with. And no, it's not Jesus. I'm guessing he'd say the same thing to you when he finished laughing. Try Andras Jones from The Previous. His band's third and latest album UnPop... is the testimonial of a former pubescent nerd for current and future pubescent nerds everywhere.

"The whole album functions for me on several levels," explains Jones from his kitchen in Olympia, Washington. "One: it's remembering something. Two: it's a way of settling whatever old scores I felt like I needed to settle. And it's paying tribute to the thing that got me through, which was rock and roll. Someone else writing rock and roll about how miserable they were when they were 14 helped me when I was 14, so I've grown up to be someone who makes angry rock and roll albums about being 14.

"That's kind of the joke about UnPop... - to be 28 years old and still trying to get back at some 14-year-old bully who was just being pretty random about what they did."

The heroic loser character running throughout the songs of UnPop... is a semi-autobiographical wiener named Dennis Bland - wearer of corduroys, butt of jokes, receiver of beats, target for brick missiles. Jones actually took the name from The Who's Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend ("The song 'For Dennis Bland,' if you say it over and over again it becomes Dennis Blanford," Jones says) whom he credits with helping him through the jungle of juvenelia back in school.

While the idea of revisiting those days in song is definitely not a new one, The Previous do it with a fresh sense of humor, a keen, albeit slightly jaundiced, eye, and an unbridled, unabridged love of pop history. Clocking in at a whopping 27 minutes, the peppy UnPop... sounds like The Presidents of the United States of America with a Morrissey complex. Yes, that means it's good.

"I can see how we're both influenced by the same people," Jones says about the Presidents comparison. "I think we both listened to a lot of people in the '70s and spent a lot of time in used record stores looking for good old music in the '80s.

"The lineage of the pop thing obviously (in us) runs pretty deep - back to Cole Porter through the Beatles through Elvis Costello and They Might Be Giants on into now."

And like the Prezes and They Might Be Giants, Jones admits The Previous are sometimes in danger of being blown off as a novelty act by the most casual of listeners. The most approachable track on UnPop..., for instance, is the one-minute-and-24-second "Corduroy," about the hipness of the clothing material in 1983 and the "foop, foop" sound it made in the hallways ("Everyone everywhere is sure to hear the pants I wear - they're corduroy"). Goofy? Sure. Funny? Yeah. Catchy? Definitely. Dismissable? Hardly.

"There are so many ways that your message could be taken wrong and misinterpreted or not taken and not interpreted at all. It's something that I guess is something to worry about, but at the same time, every time I play 'Corduroy' at a show it gets a response. It's a minute-and-a-half song - if that's all that got played on radio I guess that would be a bummer, but at the same time that would be one more song than already is getting airplay. "The prime example to me is They Might Be Giants who, I think, with each record they've done since they came out have been at the cutting edge of songwriting and arranging. Any music that I think is good generally... you look at somebody who writes great songs like a John Lennon or a Pete Townshend, there's so much humor involved in it, anyway. To me that's a mark of intelligence."

The Previous will be performing with Bob Wiseman and the Binder Specialists on Friday, September 19th at Thirsty's

1996

THE NANAIMO TIMES
February 23, 1996

1995

Olympia, Wash.: Need a place for your band to crash? A gig? A nice bowl of soup, maybe? Billing its band-run label, The City limits as " a grass-roots support network for independent musicians," Mr. Jones and The Previous have fostered a spirit of camaraderie and support with local Olympian bands and others passing through. "We do some (free) booking and promotion for other artists that come through, or out of, Olympia," says guitarist/lead singer Andras Jones. "I was a professional at friend's places for a few years, so this is kind of a way to pay that back." Perhaps Mr. Jones' good karma has returned in the form of 5,000 copies sold of the band's albums "Porch Music" and "Mr. Jones and The Fascists: In Search of The Hundredth Monkey." The band is readying two new recordings, one of which is a compilation eight other indie groups. Although it is included in Pandemonium Magazines "Northwest's Top 50 Bands," Mr. Jones used to call Los Angeles home. During a recent visit to its old haunts, the band performed at a fund-raiser for public-supported KPFK Los Angeles. Jones, John Nason (lead guitar), Marshall Thompson (keyboards), Colin Mahoney (drums), and Brian Schey (bass) lay down biting, sometimes humorous lyrics with a beautifully fleshed-out sound. Mr. Jones and The Previous have opened for Mary's Danish. Michelle Shocked, and Excene Cervenka. Contact the band at 213-896-9587. ______Doug Reece

Revolution Rock
by Sandy Carter

November 1995

The Olympia, Washington based outfit, Mr. Jones and The Previous, favor a traditional blend of acoustic and electric sounds scavenged from roots rock, folk, blues, and country. And in the singing and writing of Andras Jones you'll hear the obvious influences of Lennon, Dylan, and Costello. But dig deeper into the music of Mr. Jones and you discover a mix of politics, spirituality, humor, and passion that sounds like its coming from a distinctive three dimensional human being. And these days, that's saying quite a lot. On their third album, Mr. Jones and The Fascists: In Search of The Hundredth Monkey (The City Limits), Jones and The Previous make no bones about where they stand on various issues of the day: commodity culture, racism and sexism, crime and the war on drugs, destruction of the earth, and the emptiness of the human soul. Preachy and serious stuff indeed, but never holy or boring. Jones' down to earth anger and wit steers clear of elitist purity, and his strong voice and knack for melody keep the message impassioned and accessible. Throw in the aggression and big beat of The Previous (lead guitarist John Nason, bassist brian Schey, drummer Colin Mahoney, and keyboardist Marshall thompson) and you've got social impact.

1994

April 1994

Mr. Jones and The Fascists: In Search of the Hundredth Monkey
by Kevin Slick

Recorded live in May of '92 in downtown Los Angeles, this album crackles with energy and passion. Mr. Jones walks a delightfully fine line in delivering songs with social impact, never preachy, filled with imagery, wit and honesty. The sound is fairly traditional folk/rock band set-up, recorded impeccably, and it's a joy to listen to if only for the great quality sound. This album works in the best tradition of the great works from Neil Young, Bob Dylan, or Richard Thompson, where the artist paints a clear picture of where they are, who they are and what they are feeling at the moment. The thoughts/ideas/concepts don't need to be brilliantly profound but can be brilliant in the way they are communicated. There's no wasted space on this recording: the energy is raw and focused, the musicians poured an incredible amount of soul, passion and emotion into the grooves. The songs sound "just right;" there's nothing missing here. Also impressive is the lyric-comic-information book that accompanies the CD. A lot of work has gone into this text project, and the information remains. I hope Mr. Jones continues his musical trek. It's like a good friend on the road: I want to hear more about his adventures and get more snapshots of life like this in the mail.

Mr. Jones and The Previous: Porch Music

___Some thirty years ago, people flocked to California. Now people are getting the flock out. This 1991 release could be the soundtrack to that growing un-exodus - the flipside downside to everything The Mamas and the Papas ever stood for as seen through the eyes of a struggling band. Guitarist/vocalist Andras Jones writes songs that are impatient with weakness and stupidity because those are qualities that can get you killed, and Mr. Jones and his band play up the truth known to everyone in a warzone - nothing's worth more than knowing you can count on your mates. - MK

1993

_____Mr. Jones and The Previous quietly crept into Chi town and proceeded to take over. With the opening slot for the Bad Examples, Mr. J and The P astounded the Pkayhouse audience with their unique brand of rock and roll.
_____ The band is anassuming in dress, but watch out when they start to play. Keyboardist, Marshall thompson is phenomenal and compliments the acoustic/electric style of music. Andras jones, lead singer and acoustic guitarist, is the glue that holds the band together. He's their voice and their vision. Bassist, Walt Vincent, and drummer, Colin Mahoney keep the band on track with a steady, if not provocative, beat. Joh Nason rounds out the band with his earing guitar work.
_____ Mr. J and The P got right down to business with "Who's Gonna Make It Rain?" and "Rip It Away". The band rocked out and started to win the audience filled with musicians and regular patrons over right away. "What's Wrong With The Mirror," from their first CD, Porch Music, kept things going. "What's Wrong…" is a radio friendly song with a great beat.
_____ Then a funny thing happened, Jones showed his comedic side with a little ditty called "Corduroy". He reminded the audience just how good all those corduroy pants sounded in the high school hallway. "Message For The Moon" sounds even better live than on the CD. It's a sweet ballad showing the power of love.
The new CD is expected to be released in April, (it's being recorded in Boston while they're on tour) and the band gave the Playhous audience a preview with "Election Day", "Ugly Inside", and "Why Must You Be So Mean?" Each song has the same powerful Jones lyrics and his band just can't go wrong. The music is tight, upbeat, and very enjoyable.
_____ "Shout" and "Drug War" came next. By the time jones sang, "Wire taps on yer phone. What have you done? In the privacy of your own home. What have you done?…" from "Drug War" the audience was his. This bluesy type rocker just oozes with fun, until you listen to the lyrics and realize how serious this song is. Mucho compliments go to the sound team at the Playhouse. The tendency to have the p.a. too loud was temprered this night and the mix was great. While the music is a powerful force in this band, it's the lyrics that give the songs emotion. What a treat to be able to hear all the words at a club and not lose your hearing.
_____ "Ain't I A Woman," a bitter sweet song taken from a speech by Sojournor Truth was quiet and slow with a force coming from behind. For "The Man" Bono from U2, the High King of Satire, got satirized himself. Jones does a great Bono impression even while singing. "Don't Feed The Animals" and "I Think They Want Me" closed down the set and kept the audience jumping and wanting more.
_____ "Ain't these guys great," gushed Ralph Covert of The Bad Examples. Well, Mr. Covert, I couldn't have said it better myself __________JoAnne Cammarata

July 1993
In Search of The Hundredth Monkey by John Maximillian

___Andras Jones is a man of our time. An artist, thinker, and activist for awareness who deserves recognition for attempting what most twenty somethings would likely deem fruitless. Mr. Jones has been inspired by the injustice in the world around us and in his latest work, "Mr. Jones and The Fascists", he intends to set the listener on their ear with more than mere music.
___ Evoking the spirit of the sixties revolution, Jones and his band, The Previous, exist to educate the listener on topics such as nuclear testing, sexism and racism, spirituality, and our nation's mighty war on drugs. These are issue not all that new to an artists's work. However this ambitious project has consumed Jones and those around him to create a thoughtful album of dimension and depth. Jones believes every human being should feel able to positively effect their environment, face fascism selflessly, and resolve the issues that concern us all.
___ Of course, if these lofty goals are to succeed, we will all need motivation. Music. The Previous' last CD, "Porch Music" was a successful commercial endeavor rather than a politically motivated concept album. Recorded live amid the LA riots, In Search of The Hundredth Monkey stands on its own musical merit without the political agenda or humanitarian overtures. Introspective, extroverted, occasionally bluesy, and lyrically rich songs will have you skipping the 'program' button in favor of an entire listen. The Previous seem influenced by Dylan, The Stones, and Costello, pleasing themselves with a decidedly homespun sound.

___ Jones' self-described "ritual of peace" was inspired by a story of group consciousness and change entitled "The Hundredth Monkey." Extensive liner notes guide you through this lesson in life and one man's labor of love. If you feel passionate about any of these charged issues, or if you just like a good album that doesn't fit well into categories, In Search of the Hundredth Monkey should be on your Sunday morning playlist.

Mr. Jones and the Fascists in Search of The Hundredth Monkey
The City Limits

___With a concept album and more good causes than you can shake your monkey's tail at, the ultimate singer/songwriter/guitarist is making his cellestial rounds with an incredible collection of melodic songs and a heart to keep all the good stuff in while keeping the government's forces of evil at arm's length. Whether the bogeyman is the drug war from hell or the nuclear hand of Satan testing his strength, Mr. Andras Jones has a groovy little band to back his solo act all the way to the gates of the promised lands. This is one poet whose bag o' tricks includes a dictionary, encyclopedia, a book of moral obligation and the sweltering voice to carry them where the truth can be sought.

Arcata, California

April 9, 1993

Mr. Jones and The Previous
The Central, West Hollywood
By Pat Lewis

___Opening with a bluesy, poignant ballad, "It's So Easy," and seguing into a poppy tune about leaving home called "Rip It Away," Mr. Jones and The Previous immediately established themselves as a well-rehearsed and well-received, rootsy-rock band. If you're a fan of either The Black Crowes or John Mellencamp or any "midland" music falling in between those two, then you'll probably find this band right up your alley. ___While Mr. J and The P may not be breaking any new ground in terms of musical styles, what they do is done with plenty of vigor and sincerity. And the band seems to be having a great time in the process, which, in turn, translates into the audience having a great time as well. A little closer look at the lyrics even reveals a wonderful and witty sense of humor at play, which should only keep you coming back for more. This six - sometimes seven piece - outfit is led by the energetic and downright personable singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist, Andras Jones. Drummer Colin S. Mahoney and bass player Walt Vincent are a professional and driving rhythm section, which holds down the bottom end more than adequately, giving keyboardist Marshall Thompson and guitarist John Nason plenty of room to stretch out.

___Interestingly, when leader Jones is not performing in LA or touring the countryside with his Previous band, he can be found co-starring in movies. Thus far, his celluloid image has been captured in The Prom, Nightmare on Elm Street 4, and a Viennese film production of Oedipus among others. And somehow, amongst all these activities, Jones has found time to record and self-release an impressive 11-song CD, produced with Earle Mankey (Concrete Blonde, The Beach Boys), entitled Porch Music. It kinda leaves you wondering how this guy ever finds time to sleep.

1992

April 11th, 1992

Mr. Jones & The Previous. House leveling rock 'n' roll from Andras Jones and his gifted crew, a septet that can blister and burn, undulate and seethe, nudge and wink - even weep and wail - with undeniable flair and uncontained zeal. Jones's proselike, often wry lyrics are the tasty dollop that tops off this savory crunch. Go get yourself a slice. With The Wheezing Brats, The Imposters & Hate Romance at The Central, 9:30.

June 20, 1992

Mr. Jones and The Previous. I still haven't seen this band in concert, but someone sent a letter to me at BAM a while back informing me that the heaps o praise I have stacked on this rootsy little (OK, big - it has eight members) rockin' band's tunes is not enough. No, the writer said to me, Mr. Jones and The Previous live is intensely energetic and engaging, much more than mere great songwriters and craftpersons. Well, heck… pardon my understatement. Take the guy's word for it and go hear 'em. Maybe I'll see you there. Also singer-songwriter Randy Kaplan at Mama Pajama, 9.

April 2, 1993

Mr. Jones and The Previous. This ensemble's repertoire runs from subdued ballads to poppy jazz to rootsy blues, in songs that generally pose questions of some sort - about one's own existence or government actions, for example - even invoking famous queries from history (i.e. the tune "Ain't I A Woman (Sojournor Truth)." Vocalist Andras jones has a slightly gravelly tenor that gets the point across without frills, and the players on their new tape - In Search of The hundredth Monkey - are first-rate local musicians. With Ellen Maybe and Tracy Thielen at The Iguana Café, 9

March 1992

___Last year, I had more time on my hands, so sometimes I'd have a lovely bowl of homemade soup at Highland Grounds Coffeehouse, where proprietor Rich Brenner would often urge me to check out a group valled Mr. Jones and The Previous. As is too often the case, I never got around to it. More's the pity, because, judging from their recently released album, Porch Music (The City Limits), I've been missing out.

___Frontman/songwriter Andras jones and his six-member band concoct heady roots rock tunes, which are permeated throughout with Clayton Goldstein's piercingly expressive harmonica riffs. The yearning, evocative "Rip It Away" opens with Jones' understated solo vocals, building into a thunderingly rhythmic rollick, while the Stones'y "Don't Feed The Animals" oozes smoky sexuality. The wry "What's Wrong With The Mirror" sounds a bit like Dylan crossed with Elvis costello, while the spare ballad, "Listen With Your Heart," is an impassioned defense of artistic integrity. The musicians play with distinction, providing a stellar backdrop for Jone's adept, prose-like, stream-of-thought lyrics (with "sincerest apologies to Strunk and White"). The tape is enough to bowl you over. Just think what this septet can do live.

previous@olywa.net