Jack Foster III- Jazzraptor’s Secret
(ProgRock Records PRR610)
Jack Foster III- Jazzraptor’s Secret
(ProgRock Records PRR610)
From Aural Innovations #41 (Jan 2009)
This is the 4th record by musician Jack Foster III. He is a guitarist and vocalist and also performs with Mojophonic and Full House. On this record he is joined by Trent Gardner on keyboards and Robert Berry plays the bass and drums. Clearly this was composed and not played live with overdubs and sometimes it also lacks that feeling of a band playing together. The CD features 10 tracks in 56 minutes. The title track is a short intro piece. The Corner starts off hard rocking with some intense drumming before the music changes dramatically into an acoustic track. Jack has a special voice, some may not like. The CD features a lot of complicated stuff that can switch dramatically from one thing to the next. To have and to Hold has some beautiful acoustic guitar and some spacey keyboards. Outbreak Monkey is a real workout of a track at the beginning with some really cool guitar work before it goes into 80’s Marillion territory. Dreaming not Sleeping is a beautiful track. Mandelbrot World is a long track at 9 minutes and begins with piano and synths and then some programmed drums/percussion that leads into a spacey part before the guitar picking begins and wild electric guitar solo in the middle. Cool song. God and War is 8 minutes and features a choir of Jack’s own voice at different pitches before the music kicks in. There is some very deep bass on this track and a very dramatic musical section towards the end. The New American has a darker guitar line and potent lyrics. It is a mixture of melodic elements and some heavier stuff than the rest of the record. Inspiration is a short track and one of my least favourite. The CD ends with Sometimes when you Win, a track with powerful lyrics. Impressive CD.
Check out the band web sites at: http://www.jazzraptor.com
Check out the bands web site at: http://www.progrockrecords.com
Reviewed by Scott Heller