Reviews
Jonathan Widran in Jazziz Magazine and All
Music Guide
"Long one of smooth
jazz's most underrated pianists, Rob
Mullins has quietly worked up a catalog of indie releases with
tunes long on melody and groove innovations, rivaling most of the
classics of David Benoit. Launching his own label with a similarly
likeable collection that lives up to its title, Mullins does exactly
what he's always done best—mix things up between powerful ballads,
jumpy funk tunes and anywhere possible, colorful and aggressive jazz
improvisations.
Joyful Noyz
doesn't go quite as crazy in this direction as his last disc, Dance For The New World, but there's
still more than enough genre busting to go around. Any other smooth
jazzer naming a tune "Summer Song" would go predictable and mellow;
Mullins joins with featured saxman Greg
Vail for a powerful romp that is part soul, part Latin and even
features an eyepopping solo that smacks of boogie woogie. "Newport Attitude" is the obvious
radio single, a fiery bit of sax-driven passion that could be a Rippingtons cut if not for the
generous acoustic solo Mullins rewards us with. The keyboardist
definitely has more fun bouncing off the walls—as he does on the brisk
samba "The Barrio, " featuring the lead melody on Fender Rhodes—but "So
In Love With You" shows he's a romantic at heart. Another standout is
"She's Too Cool, " another light funk/jazz improv attitude piece
featuring Morris O'Connor's crisp electric guitar."
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Rob's Commentary
Liner Notes for
"Joyful Noyz"
by Laura Harrison
For those of you who enjoy hearing Rob play live with his band, this CD
is a dream come true. The CD you hold in your hands now represents an
amazing accomplishment by an artist who has more guts than anyone I've
ever seen in the music industry. The songs you are listening to were
recorded in ONE session that lasted six hours-while a video crew
climbed over and under and between all the musicians as the songs were
being played and recorded.
"Since we were being filmed, and the CD was recorded in a TV studio
with a limited amount of time, we didn't even have a chance to listen
to the playbacks on this one" said Rob after the recording was
completed. "This was a situation that required real professionals to
pull off... mostly because in this kind of recording situation, there
is no fixing any mistakes. If someone messes up, you go back to the
beginning of the song and start over, which we did a few times" he
added. Talk about pressure. No listening to playbacks. TV crew climbing
all over. No fixing any mistakes later. Everything on video. 53 minutes
of music, live. Ten new songs, rehearsed twice. To show up for that
folks, takes guts.
"I've done so much performing over the years, I wasn't really nervous
about this one, in fact, I was too tired to be nervous, since I had
found out that we had the funding for the project only a week before
the recording was supposed to take place" Rob said. I wrote this CD in
two days, except for the song 'Mirille', which I wrote in 1998. The
other nine songs were brand new" he added.
I got a tape of the songs from Rob a couple of weeks prior to release
of this project, which was titled "Newport Attitude" on the box. The
material was strong, and I felt refreshed knowing that Rob had used a
live six-piece band on this project because I was getting really tired
of hearing drum loops on the Smooth Jazz Stations. Something was
missing in most of the music on radio. Then I realized what I have
always liked the most about Rob, his tremendous energy level when
performing and recording... the power of his music was energizing,
uplifting, and strong. I felt that on this tape that I got in advance,
and I knew that it was a hit with me.
Six great musicians are featured on this recording. On sax is a long
time associate and friend of Rob's that is no stranger to the
contemporary jazz world: Greg Vail. Greg had played sax on Rob's "Dance
for the New World" CD, and he was really sounding strong on "Bustin'
Out", which was my second most favorite song from "Dance", next to
"House of Broken Dreams" which always made me sad, but happy at the
same time when I heard it. Anyway, Greg's sax work on this live project
is simply amazing... his tenor is deep, powerful, and strong, his
soprano is sweet and sexy, and his alto just blows the roof off the
place on "Summer Song" which is the first song on the new CD.
On drums is a guy that Rob truly loves- Lamont Peoples. I remember
emailing Rob many times over the past couple of years, and how excited
he got when Lamont came on board. "A drummer who doesn't want to take a
solo, how can this be?" Rob had said. "A guy who is the groove, and
nothing but the groove, who has no attitude problems.. .how can this
be?" Rob joked with me. Lamont really did do a wonderful job on this
project, which is his first recording. Congrats Lamont, you've arrived
babe.
On bass, Scott Cannady became a last minute part of this project when
the bass player who had committed to doing the recording backed out two
weeks before the recording date. "Scott's vibe and style was a very
natural blend with Lamont's in-the-pocket style of drumming" Rob said.
"And his solos were soulful, groovin', and still had that wild element
to them at times" Rob added. Scott has recorded and performed with
"Pieces of a Dream", and just returned from touring with Jeffrey
Osborne at the time of this writing.
Percussion Kevin Ricard was a great addition to the project, and is was
a natural since Rob and Kevin had been filming Brandy's TV show
"Moesha" together the month before, and Rob was quick to call Kevin to
play on this one after he knew what the budget was going to be. "I was
really glad to have the money to do a six piece band this time, and
Kevin was about adding to the groove, not all that bells and whistles
mindless toy slinging that many of the percussionists are doing these
days" Rob said.
Morris O'Connor is a huge addition to Rob's band on this CD, and he
mastered the knack of staying out of the way of Rob's extra full piano
and keys sounds with ease. "There's a reason that there are no guitar
players on my CD's " Rob said, smiling. "Most of them just don't get
the principle of my band which is: its not about you, its not about me,
its about the SONGS we are playing" he added. Rob must have really been
impressed with Morris because he gave him a feature guitar song, which
sounds a lot to me like Rob's buddy who passed away recently: Zachary
Breaux. You'll find that song as track number six. Its called "She's
Too Cool."
As the years pass by, its great watching Rob and his music get better
and better. This CD will rock your socks off, and will be the sonic
background for your memories in 1999. Congratulations, and enjoy
"Joyful Noyz."
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