Benny Reid – Escaping Shadows (2009)
Artist : Benny Reid
Album : Escaping Shadows
Released Date : September 15, 2009
Label : Concord Records
It’s always great to see some fresh newcomers coming into the jazz scene offering their passion and style to enrich it while seeing some senior jazz musicians still stand tall and strong in the first decade of the new millennium. Often their path break the pattern of staying faithfully in one particular genre going freely exploring different layers of jazz, or music, creating something that can really describe their feeling. This is also the case of Benny Reid. Still in his twenty or something, he has taken an essential start with debuting two years ago with “Findings” and now he’s back again releasing his second album, “Escaping Shadows” under Concord Records.
“Escaping Shadows” is clearly another vital step in his maturation, strengthening his position as an adventurous musician and an ambitious composer. Listen to the album, you will find that this guy is really serious and really know what he is doing. He is for sure a potential jazz musician with a bright future career. Benny Reid is someone who knows how to pour out his feelings with his saxophone and tell us exactly about it in the shape of music. Amazingly in his young age he already has a strong concept in declaring his music style. He has a distinctive style of blending the classic modern jazz, contemporary jazz, a slice of ECM taste, fusion, and some smooth jazz in the horizon with sparkling post bop improvisation. Interestingly all these mixtures can be found in almost all of his composition, fusing together completely in one definite style of Reid. The songs are made sexy, exotic, and warm but at times can be adventurous with catchy melodies, amazing improvisations and hypnotizing grooves. There are strong rockin’ guitars inside some tracks and also a smart decision to include wordless vocals to embellish the music. No particular genre could hold him, so I’d say Benny Reid’s “Escaping Shadows” talks less about genre but speaks loud about the artistic side of music.
Picture Credit to Devin DeHaven
For Reid, all started in the family. He was born in Westfield, New Jersey. Living with both parents that listened to all kinds of music became his first encounter to music. He grew up listening to jazz greats like Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny and John Coltrane. Later he took the alto sax as his main weapon inspired by his uncle who played the alto sax in college. Besides credits to his family, his first sax teachers have also shaped his early interest in jazz. During his studying time his parents also brought him to see Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Phil Woods and many other jazz musicians in concerts where he found the right elements of music that passionate him. He jumped to some jam sessions locally. Starting from the age of 15 he got mentored by Andy Fusco, former Buddy Rich’s alto saxophonist. Later when he attended Indiana University, he got educated by David Baker and Tom Walsh. By this time he got the sense of freedom to experiment and use it to go own his path. And Benny Raid was fully developed. He started to compose since he was still in high school and got the chance to show his original compositions at high school and college recitals. He has written a lot of songs, that some haven’t even made out to the recordings yet.
Listening to Benny Reid is like looking at a beautiful artistic painting. It’s a passionate musical adventure of Reid with his band. “Escaping Shadows” was produced by Reid himself along with Christ Dunn. Some of the band members have been working with him for the past two years and also played in his debut “Findings”. They are the guitarist with a deep and diverse sound that often give a strong emphasis, Richard Padrón, percussionist Ryan Fitch and the unique wordless vocalist Jeff Taylor, that reminds me of the haunting Ivan Lins vocal that grabs our attention such as in Dave Grusin & Lee Ritenour’s “Harlequin” album. In the second album Reid expands his band by adding pianist Pablo Vergara, bassist Daniel Loomis and drummer Kenny Grohowski. The album consists of 10 pieces of songs. 9 tracks are his own original composition, where half of them were written several years ago even before his debut album came out, and one was taken from Pat Metheny’s “Secret Story” (1992), I consider this one of the most romantic composition ever written, the ever lovely “Always and Forever”.
Let’s see completely what’s inside “Escaping Shadows”. The CD starts with the most recent song he wrote before the sessions, “The Final Chapter”. This is a bright song that will simply set your mood into the journey of all the pieces he gives inside. You will get the pleasure of having introduced by the form of Reid and the band’s type of music in smooth upbeat tune, especially with the freedom of sax courtesy of Reid and the wordless vocal by Jeff Taylor that differ this song than the usual bright smooth jazz you are used to listening. Interestingly this newest one follows by “Five Years Later”, a composition Reid started five years earlier. The song is presented in a cool groovy beat which successfully carries on what the first song left. On this one, Padrón plays four different guitars, from acoustic to strat, giving some more layers to the piece. “Sleeping Beauty” is an interesting composition starts with time ticking beat and roaring electric guitar. This is an enchanting track that also has Reid’s cool up-and-down-the-hill improvisation along with Taylor’s effervescent vocal following Reid’s exact melodies in some parts. Sail on into the different dimension outside the world in peace, calm and quiet dreamy song entitled “Facing the Edge”. It goes on for almost 3 minutes before Reid raises the pace a bit, but still it’s pleasing up until the end. “New Days” (see the video below) is a showcase of how Reid and his band paints a perfect musical painting then serves it as something easy to be absorbed by ears. This is a rich uplifting song that blends all mentioned various genres earlier in the same portions, showing perfectly what Reid’s music is all about.
Picture Credit to Devin DeHaven
The next song must be very special to him. “The Most Beautiful Girl I Knew” is a very lovely and sublime composition dedicated to Reid’s sister who passed away when he was 13. 
This is a heartfelt ballad that will definitely take your breath away. I’m imagining Reid’s sister smiling from heaven with this beautiful song that honors her in a very special way. The track continues with another older piece, “Firelight”, that has been a band staple on stage and always been a favorite with the audience. This is a song with the heat that gives Padrón another chance to roar with his guitar again. “Cutting” is a track that gives a taste of jazz served in rock-influenced palette, in which Reid goes boldly with his saxophone against the heavy beat of drums. Then comes Reid’s great interpretation of Pat Metheny’s, “Always and Forever”. He successfully replaced the original guitar-leading composition with his smooth seductive saxophone playing accompanied by a soft acoustic guitar. Reid brings this song in full respect as it appears warm and tenderly romantic, just like the original version. The CD closes with the title track, “Escaping Shadows” that starts with a sense of coming out of the shadow and then fly away totally in freedom in search of more interesting findings ahead.
“Escaping Shadows” follows Reid’s debut album that successfully built the foundation for his career. Creative melodies come with surprises and stunning improvisations in various different layers in every tracks, showing how Reid is growing faster than his real age. This is an example of a fresh musical pattern that comes from a concept that usually can only be done by senior jazz musicians. It’s a set of lovely art of music that appear just as lovely as an artistic paintings. This is a case of how someone could be influenced by some inspiring legends but then manages to go out escaping the shadow and find their own original music style. As Benny Reid says “I’m trying to come into my own, so I am escaping the shadows of my influences and finding myself. I’m still evolving as a player and a composer. That’s what Escaping Shadows is all about. I’m on the way.” And I’d say yes, with this great second album, he’s definitely on the right way. If you are into an artistic ear catchy and friendly jazz, make sure you won’t miss this one.
Tracklisting:
1. The Final Chapter
2. Five Years Later
3. Sleeping Beauty
4. Facing the Edge
5. New Days
6. The Most Beautiful Girl I Ever Knew
7. Firelight
8. Cutting
9. Always and Forever
10. Escaping Shadows
Get a Free Download of Benny Reid’s single “New Days” (click here)
Purchase Benny Reid – Escaping Shadows from Amazon.com
For more info log on to Benny Reid’s official website and myspace
Reviewed by: Riandy Kurniawan
Special thanks to :
Alhenri Wijaya
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