Showing posts with label Nobody’s Land. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nobody’s Land. Show all posts

10/04/2018

Instrumental Jazz Review: Pablo Embon-Nobody’s Land

Release Date: October 17th, 2018
Label: Independent

Now here is an artist I was anticipating a great new release from, Pablo Embon.  I had the very distinct pleasure of reviewing The World Within (2016) and The Funky Side of The Road (2017). And now the latest release Nobody’s Land is ready for all you jazz aficionados to consume. This keeps the string of fresh releases coming and my ears are paying attention.

I love jazz, and I do not listen to it enough. Somewhere along the line, I drifted apart from it. The music Pablo delivers reminds me of how wonderful this music is. It also makes me think of many of my favorites such as Al DiMeola, Jean-Luc Ponty and Caldera (with some of the keyboards), and many more. The influences of many different artists are present in Pablo’s music. Once you hear it you will pick up on it. If you are like me, you will love it. He cites Return To Forever as an influence. As you all know that was a group of superstars and each one had their own particular style and sound. That is a good thing in my estimation. 

Nobody’s Land tends to draw from those influences and the mix of sounds you will hear on the album is a tribute to the many talents of the artists. One the best examples of all the influences tied into one song are “Rubberneck.”  It is a combo of traditional and modern jazz. The guitar is smooth and fluid like traditional jazz should be then the shifting tempo introduces some piano, which adds another layer of texture to consider. It gives it some juice and jumps if you will. There is background jazz, the kind that blends into your surroundings, then there is thinking man’s jazz, which is more cerebral.  In that sense I mean, you are recognizing all the changes and the tremendous effort that must have gone into recording all this music, then putting it all together. That is an immense task to accomplish. If you don’t really appreciate the artistry that you are hearing then you really are not “listening.”

Pablo wrote and produced all of his music and he also performed it all with several different configurations of guitars and keyboards (listed below for you gear freaks). He is the ultimate D.I.Y. indie musician. I always thought of him as a guitar player, it looks that way on this cover. Do not let one picture persuade you in one direction. On Nobody’s Land, he is equally impressive on the various types of keyboards. At times you get that smoke-filled lounge feeling and others the get-up and dance nightclub feeling with his music, and others the kick back and just soak it all in mood hits you…all of it soothes the soul. This artist gets it all covered for my discerning tastes.

This may be Nobody’s Land but this is Pablo Embon’s world of music. With each album released he takes it to the next level. I look forward to what he comes up with next year! 

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
October 4, 2018

Note: The newly remastered version of Nobody's Land is now available exclusively on Pablo's website follow this link: https://www.pablo-embon.com/music-download/nobody-s-land-buy/

Founder of:

Review Provided By MuzikMan Reviews & News

Tracks:
01. Dragonfly
02. Absent Minded
03. The Days We’ve Lived
04. Wistful Smiles
05. Tell Your Story
06. Same Old, Same Old
07. End of Summer
08. Nobody’s Land
09. Unveiled
10. Rubberneck
11. Washed Out
12. Estela
13. Bonus Track: Morning T (Remix)



Pianos:
Ravenscroft 275 Acoustic Piano
TruePianos
Rhodes Electric Piano
Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Yamaha CP70 Electric Piano
Roland V-Piano
Synth Rack: Various

Guitars:
Ovation Acoustic Guitar Standard Elite 2778AX
Yamaha NTX900FM Nylon Guitar
Ibanez PM 120 NT Electric Guitar
12th String Acoustic Washburn WD10SCE12