Lift Merrill WI

Lift

Greg Howard Band

Espresso Records, 2000

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/20/2001

If you've never heard of the Chapman Stick, you've missed out onsomething special in the world of music. A unique-looking item, youpress on the strings instead of plucking them, allowing you to playthe instrument like a piano instead of a guitar. The Stick allowsyou two-handed access, meaning you can play treble and bass linesat the same time. Tony Levin is one of the best-known performerswho uses the Stick; I've seen John Myung of Dream Theater play onein concert. I've even had the chance to try one out myself, thoughI admit I looked at the instrument like a monkey trying to do amath problem.

Greg Howard is called one of the instrument's best players, andhas several albums' worth of Stick-related music out. Lift, the latest from the Greg Howard Band, has a fewmoments of greatness, but otherwise comes off sounding like DaveMatthews Band trying to play smooth jazz.

Admittedly, the sound of this group is one you have to get usedto; the "guitar player" you think you hear is actually Howard onthe Stick. Yet Howard isn't the person who remains in the spotlightthroughout this disc; his bandmates - drummer/percussionist JanWolfkamp, saxophonist/violinist Hubert Heeringa, and bassist Janvan Olffen - take their time in front of the band, as does guestsaxophonist Louis Gerrits.

This might actually be the problem with Lift. It's not that these musicians aren't talented; rather,it's that the Stick becomes part of the rhythmic backbone, not thecenterpiece of the disc as I would have expected. Add into this mixa strange eclectic mix of jazz and pseudo new-age, and theresulting disc is less than satisfying.