ELEMENTS

"Imposing Elements" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Canadian jazz/fusion artist Dean Watson. The album is a self-released affair, created, produced and mastered by Dean Watson. "Imposing Elements" is a music/art collaboration between Dean Watson and artist Ron Eady. The latter´s painting (which has the same title as the album and has inspired Dean Watson to write the music) graces the album cover. This method was also the case with "Unsettled (2010)", which also features a cover artwork with a painting by Ron Eady.

The music on the album is what I´d call adventurous jazz/fusion with edgy rythm work and keyboards and guitars providing lead themes and solos. Dean Watson is a regular one-man army delivering tight performances on all instruments. The music can be both dark and atmospheric (at times even ambient) and more edgy and powerful too (there are even some chunky metallic sounding riffs on the album although they are not dominant). One of the great assets of the music (at least to my ears) are the memorable themes. While there are plenty of soloing for those who enjoy that, the fact that Watson always returns to something relatively hook laden is something I much appreciate. I think the music on "Imposing Elements" features a good balance between accessibility and challenging it´s audience.

"Imposing Elements" is another great release by Dean Watson and while there are a few sections I find a bit too "new age" sounding for my personal taste, the album overall comes off very intriguing. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is warranted.