YULARA - smooth world jazz - with femme vox - "Eclectic Earwig Reviews Music and More for You!"
HOME PAGE, prog rock, jazz fusion, jazz rock, jazz, pysch/trance, space, electronic, ambient, essentially eclectic excellence
EER-MUSIC.com HOME PAGE

GO HOME
EER-MUSIC.com
MEET THE STAFF HERE


 
Yulara: Future Tribe (CD, 60:43) HOMCD 49478
Higher Octave Music
23852 Pacfic Coast Hwy., Suite 2C
Malibu, CA 90265
CYBERHOME: http://www.higheroctave.com

Smooth jazz. I must admit as a reviewer the smooth jazz genre has been the
most difficult to break down because to my ear, it pretty much all sounds
the same.  You start off with a built-in Casio beat from your programmed
drum machine, add some "smooth" jazzy light keyboards, the occasional sultry
Sade-ish female voice, and top off with a health serving of Kenny G style
saxophone.  It's not that the musicians themselves are subpar, it's just
always struck me as odd that professional artists would want to stick
themselves in the rut of a music genre that is so cookie cutter consistent.
So, when I received Yulara's latest smooth jazz offering Future
Tribe, I was less than optimistic.  Unfortunately, with a few
exceptions, Yulara didn't change my mind one bit - the music on Future
Tribe comes across as simply more cardboard cut-out smooth jazz.
Pleasant background music at best.

In their defense, Yulara does take a more worldly approach to their music,
incorporating many Eastern religious influences in their songs - even going
as far as naming two of the cuts "Om Namah Shivaya" after a Sanskrit mantra
that roughly translates to "Om and salutations to what I am capable of
becoming". In keeping with this spiritual vibe, the track "Oming Ocean" even
contains some throatsinging and Eastern percussion as well.  Unfortunately,
while this is the most interesting track on the CD, it only lasts a meager 3
minutes.  The bulk of the CD's time is dedicated to songs that are far less
engaging and inventive. I would imagine that only extremely hardcore smooth
jazz fans would stay interested in this CD for more than a few tracks.

The musicianship on Future Tribe is fine - Annie Hilsberg has the
faux-funky flute and sax bit down pat, and the programmed percussion rhythms
are serviceable if not distinctive.  Some of Robert Matt's piano work is
very tastefully done, but much to the CD's detriment it is not featured
nearly enough to make a major positive impact.  The title track "Future
Tribe" does contain some signs of life with some very nice dissonant
keys/sax work, but even that can't save the song or the entire CD from
becoming just another indistinctive smooth jazz release in a sea of
indistinctive smooth jazz releases.  Perhaps next time, Yulara will allow
themselves to be a bit more experimental with their compositions and
instrumentation, but for now there's really nothing to distinguish Yulara
from the scores of similar "jazz" acts in existence today. Yawn.

More information on Yulara can be found at http://www.yulara.com.

- Michael Askounes (michael@gscyclone.com)

PERSONNEL:
Annie Hilsberg: Sax, Flute, Vocals
Brian Hughes: Guitar
Angelique Kidjo: Vocals
Robert Matt: Keys, Piano, Throatsinging, Percussion, Programming
Andrew McGuinness: Drum Programming
Potsch Potschka: Guitar
Jacek Serczyk: Guitar
Minas Suluyan: Percussion

TRACKLIST:
1.    Om Namah Shivaya (4:28)
2.    Future Tribe (6:02)
3.    Bridges to Shambhala (4:34)
4.    Shakti Dance (4:43)
5.    Lights of Ayodhya (4:27)
6.    Rodina/Home (7:01)
7.    Tibetan Hope (4:03)
8.    Oming Ocean (2:54)
9.    Om Namah Shivaya (8:34)
10.   Spacerise (0:52)
11.   Flyin' High (4:46)
12.   Children of the Pleaides (8:19)




RETURN TO:


To purchase this recording and get more info, soundclips, etc.

CLICK ON ARTIST'S NAME ABOVE

OR . . .

Please visit my BUY IT E.E.R. NOW INDEX PAGE
OR...
Please try my brand spankin' new

EER and AMAZON.com QUIK-LINKs
buyer's guide to recommended music.


OR ...
go to my LINKS page and find the vendors' section.
Happy hunting!


ALL YOUR CDS ARE BELONG TO US.
Observe how the word
wheel reverses direction
if you try and read words.
EER-MUSIC.com HOME PAGE