THE SECRET MEANING

Another upbeat jazz rock record from Sébastien Gramond, I find myself torn listening to it. On one hand, the musicianship here is as good as it is on virtually every other jam album by this artist, at times even better than usual. But what keeps nagging at me is that I have heard this style done by Gramond with a much greater impact to it in the past. Although the instrumentation here is functional, it is difficult to really feel the same energy with it after the artist in question has done this sound to death already.

Although there is some more groove-oriented music here like 'Love Sprite' which stays pretty confined and structured underneath some minimal vocal work, much of the music on 'The Secret Meaning' is open ended. Guitar and keyboard solos galore, and while Gramond is a very skilled player at both instruments, it can get difficult to sit through an entire album without a sense of atmosphere or melody invoked. That being said, while Gramond may not have much to work with here on 'The Secret Meaning', everything is played well, made even more impressive by the fact that it is only one man at the reins of each and every instrument heard here.

The sound quality feels like a slightly upper class home recording, which still does not lend itself well to a fulfilling listening experience. The undoubted highlight of the album is 'By The Way', an eastern-tinged acoustic guitar piece that instantly brings to mind images of Jimmy Page. Unfortunately, this moment is blocked in by much longer sections of music that have little to no spark on the imagination. Merely pleasant ambient jazz rock.

Certainly not one of the better Gramond albums, but perhaps my view of the music here is skewed by my familiarity with Gramond and this particular style he plays so often.