Comments

• Jazz fusion updated for the 21st century is what comes to mind when listening to Carl Eichman. There are tinges of Latin jazz or some rock influences, but the main impression this talented composer gives is as a kid he had a lot of Weather Report albums and worshipped at the shrine of David Sanborn. For crossover-symphonic, easy-listening jazz that can be a very good thing indeed. -C/Net Download.com Editor’s Pick & Review
• What’s great about it is that it sounds like it’s organic,i.e., everyone is playing and interacting in the same room. Very impressive! I just ordered your Album from CD Baby. Chris Cosbey
• I was knocked out by your writing and playing. The music always takes a nice unusual turn when you least expect it. Very interesting with lots of nice colors. Great, engaging music. Very best wishes, Don Harper
• Your music is like a breath of fresh air! I’m so sick of the “smooth jazz/acid jazz” out there! Your music shows great technique, imagination in composition and arrangement, and a very fearless approach. Kudos to you on your fine effort!
• P.S. Please keep me posted on any new projects you have underway. I’ll be picking up a copy of your current masterpiece. Jazzdoorman (jazz keyboardist)
• Absolutely wonderful, I had first found a couple of your jazz pieces about two years ago just doing random downloads of fusion artists I had never heard before and I’ve been carrying them around with me since then….you’re quite versatile. Thanks, C kopko
•  I just want to thank you for creating music that I have been enjoying more intensely than just about anything I’ve heard in a couple/few decades! I’ve been listening to all your tunes and I’m just… well… ecstatic that somebody got around to advancing the arts of “prog” and “fusion”; I’ve been a disciple of each since the early 70s (I’ve also been a keyboard player since I was a kid; played in a full-time local band with progressive aspirations through the seventies..) I’ll be watching for a CD, ’cause if there’s any justice, it/they should be very “well-received” (to put it mildly.) I’ll definitely be insisting that my ol’ gang buy ‘em, too. (I can’t believe that some label hasn’t snapped you up yet!) The production alone is magnificent! -Dan Platt
• Short Circuit Society– Very melodic guitar rock with a “march groove”. Carl Eichman is like no one else – impressive are the layered vocals in a psychedelic “Beatles style”, and electronic influences. A delight for progressive rock fans! – BESONIC 24.10.2004
• Crooked Mile -One of the finest jazz compositions we’veever heard! Awesome!!! Top notch musicianship and craftsmanship! We are deeply impressed! CUEROCK
• Carl Eichman is a genius. I have almost 1,500 jazz-fusion CDs and too many to count artists, but I think Carl’s music is some of the very best.-Don Davis
•  Desire Under Glass -This fine jazz fusion track features exceptional instrumental talents of Carl Eichman, who has put together a damn fine arrangement. Take note of the guitar work that is reminiscent of the great Alan Holldsworth – Phillip E. Hardy
• Certainly not boring “smooth jazz” that dominates the FM airwaves these days! Reminds me a bit of old Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola; the stuff that grooved AND jammed hard! – Bill Compeau / Kinaxis
• Very nice material. Lots of genuine musicality, plus a liberal dash of complexity for interest, great lyrics (meaningful even!) intelligent vocals, and super guitar, bass, and synth work. All the right elements. I can hear all the influences. These are keepers. Steven Miller of Neon Egypt
• Great music! Lovely guitar playing, reminds me of Jeff Beck. -Helge Kraybe.
• WOW… The new songs are incredible.. I see you guys only get better with time… let me know if the new cd is out.. I NEED IT!!!! Lots of Love and Music – Nicki Nova
•  I gotta take time out to talk about Carl Eichman. When I first heard him I was checking out Bill Lawrence (bassist). I’m a bassist also. I heard him playing and I said to myself I’ve got to find out who this is playing lead. Carl has a unique smoothness that sets him apart from a lot of guitarists. His style is deep and breathtaking. I gave him a 10 because since I have been following his work I have found nothing that I didn’t like. Keep up the good work Carl! -Chris Jackson
• Anytime you come across a piece of music in 7/4 time these days, you know you are dealing with someone who is proudly and defiantly staying out of the easy-to-digest mainstream of jazz. It takes some very talented people to pull this kind of tune off properly, and I am happy to report that guitarist/composer Carl Eichman and his internet-based trio (with Bill Lawrence on bass and Filippo Bertacche on drums) have the goods to deliver.
•  Crooked Mile is the kind of music we used to call “art rock” back in the days when Gentle Giant, Yes, and Peter Gabriel-era Genesis were the newest and coolest things out there. With the more liberal definitions of jazz we use these days, the “jazz fusion” label works just as well to describe this fine piece of music. Eichman layers dense, processed chunks of Metheny-esque guitar with cleaner acoustic riffs, soaring electric cascades and varied synth textures. Combined with Lawrence’s robust bass lines and Bertacche’s active but tasteful percussion thrusts, the mixture is rich and satisfying to the ear. The band rides through the odd meter time fluidly and comfortably, and Eichman establishes some solid melodic themes which stay with you long after the track ends.
• The composition is well considered, with rhythmic diversity, changing dynamics and thematic development keeping things coherent and evolving. The improvisation is clearly very skilled (in particular the gymnastic bass solo which occurs around the 4-minute mark), but always the chops highlight and accent the music (instead of the other way around, as is sometimes the case in the fusion genre).
• It should also be pointed out that this recording is an example of the increasingly popular “internet collaboration” trend, made possible by sophisticated music recording/processing software and high-speed internet access. Eichman is able to work in Connecticut, and send his partially completed recordings (in digital format) across the internet first to Bertacche in Italy to add his drums, and then to Lawrence in upstate NY for the bass part. The finished recordings end up back with Eichman for final mixing and production. The process is so seamless and the musicians so skilled that there is no hint in the finished product of the distributed nature of its recording.
• Ultimately, the success of a complex piece like “Crooked Mile” is judged by how well it works at both the intellectual and soulful levels, and for me, this piece delivers on both counts. This is a first-rate composition, performance and production – bravo! -Chris Aranosian
•  “Cintra” by Carl Eichman is a pleasant trip through a landscape littered with jazz piano and fusion powered guitar. The bass drives along setting up a rhythmic underpinning and defining the mood for the piece while the drums support, define, and punctuate with just the right amount of off beat accents thrown in to unsettle the constancy of the 4/4 time the music is set in.
• At 3:22, the tune never gets boring. There is enough to listen to in the short duration to keep the ears from wandering. I found that when I listened to the track, I could not help comparing the mood and feel to some of the work by Larry Carlton and The Jazz Crusaders. The piano is solid and fluid with a nice, almost Latin feel. The guitar is well played and fits in to the overall style very well. The tones chosen for the parts are perfect for the genre.
• The tune is an Internet based collaboration. I have little to offer this artist in terms of what to improve on. I would love to hear something by this group done in a traditional recording scenario. Though I can certainly appreciate the need and desire to use every tool available as an artist, for the good of the art in question, more physical presence could add the spark to really ignite the work.
• I enjoyed reviewing “Cintra” and if you like jazz, be it fusion, smooth, contemporary, or perhaps even the lighter side of avant garde, you will enjoy it too. I look forward to hearing more by Carl Eichman and his roster of cyber-side-men. -Peter Lauda
• It is surely done with a lot of passion for music. -Georgi Angelov

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