Kerala Sunset
Thank You For Loving Me Again
In Her Own Time
Jeff Wyatt’s album Reflections at Every Corner achieves what a good album should. It showcases the well rounded talents of a musician, an artist and a personality. The first track on the album ‘Life At Every Station’ foreshadows what is to come on the album through a pink floyd type of track where each song appears to be a different station of the radio. But that is about the extent to which Jeff uses production over music. From the next track on, the entire album is all about the music and the vocals. However, that is not to overlook the wonderful production values of the entire album. Every track has been recorded with a crisp quality (usually associated with jazz music) that enables the listener to hear the ins and outs and ups and downs of every instrument.
The songwriting here is quite good. Each song has a very strong melody and a well written hook. It is clear that Jeff took the time to meticulously write each chord change in order to create some contrasting sounds; that is what a melody needs to be interesting.
As a musician, more specifically a guitarist, Jeff is very talented. His abilities range from blues to jazz to country and here and there he plays some latin style licks. Each track on the album shows his abilities being applied in a different way, which is what makes the album so solid. It is very evident that this album was a true artistic outlet for Jeff, which shows in every powerful solo, melody and chord change written throughout.
Although I found it hard to dislike a single track on the album, I did find that certain tracks had more of a creative spark than others. Tracks such as Take It From Me, Saving Grace, Albania and In Her Own Time all have a driving energy that hits harder than anything else on the album, but it’s Wyatt’s piece Kerala Sunset that is the highlight of the album. Although it is fairly simple piece in terms of the entire band, the guitar playing in Kerala Sunset is high and above anything else I have heard from Jeff. Every pull of the string, hammer on and bluesy slide allowed Jeff to show off his personality and emotionality. There are also times on the album where the varying instruments create a renewed feeling from the rest, such as Thank You For Loving Me where the main focus is the piano and his voice. The form of the song is beautiful, sweeping in and out of a verse/chorus style of song with sections written in that allow Jeff to showcase his abilities on the guitar.
This album also showcases the vocal abilities of Jeff Wyatt. This is not the first time I have mentioned this, but Jeff’s abilities to mix jazz, and blues along with a Johnny Cash-esk style of vocals is uncanny. This album shows Jeff in top form singing deeply yet very smoothly; always keeping up with the intensity of the music itself. There are times when he overdubs his own vocals to create beautiful harmonies, but for the most part Jeff relies solely on the very interesting melodies that he has created.
At times, Reflections At Every Corner may seem like a blues album; at times it may seem like a jazz album. But there is no question that the originality and musicianship throughout the entire album will shine bright onto anyone who will listen to this album.
