Featured Artist: Curtis Fornadley

CD Title: Blue Electric Cool

Year: 2005

Record Label: 1F6WAS9 Records

Style: Fusion

Musicians: Curtis Fornadley (guitar), Rob Chismar (drums), Dave Hill (bass)

Review:

Curtis Fornadley, otherwise known as Curtis has released his third CD entitled Blue Electric Cool on the IF6WAS9 Record Label. At first glance, Curtis' recording is a highly evolved hybrid rock recording. Further examination reveals a very distinctive marriage between R&B, rock, fusion jazz, avante garde and '60s styled surfing music. The formula is instrumental guitar taken to another level beyond the rudiments of traditional jazz as some have come to recognize. Musically speaking, Fornadley displays some very eclectic skills on the guitar, coupled with a style that makes the transitional lines of containment invisible. In other words, his insightful blend of musical soundscapes into one influential base, with rock as the underlying theme makes the Curtis journey into jazz a gathering of perspectives.

With this release, Curtis takes a slingshot approach to his craft. He uses rock music as the projectile, while stretching his imaginative style of play far beyond traditional thinking. In fact, he appears to aim for the unknown as he takes his listeners into the realm of some of the unexplored reaches of creativity. Although jazz is the underlying approach, the tie that binds all of the ingredients into one collective containment of activity is Curtis' ability to connect the dots across a wide range of influences. Overall, Blue Electic Cool is a push beyond the familiar with the guitar rising into the forefront of influences. As a composer, Curtis' arrangements are imaginative and revealing, which allows him a degree of flexibility to be intuitively creative. Overall, this CD brings the element of surprise into an arena of jazz that has a totally different idea in mind.

Record Label Website: http://www.BlueElectricCool.com

Artist's Website: http://www.curtisguitar.com

Reviewed by: Sheldon T. Nunn

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