REVIEW: Jeremy Bass’ “New York In Spring”

The music of Jeremy Bass sounds ready made for any and all different projects, and when I say “projects”, I mean in something like television shows, motion pictures, video games, anything that has to do with media, Bass wouldbe the guy you’d want to rely on to create some positive music because his work sounds positive. If you like the work of Jack Johnson but without sounding like the spokesperson for Sleepytime tea, you may enjoy the vibe of New York In Spring, where you’ll here someone with the kind of spontaneity-yet-strict-arrangements not unlike some of the best music Elton John has created in the last 45 years. As the photos on the covers show, he could easily be just your friend, hanging out on the couch in his living room and playing whatever he feels at any given time, but what comes forth is someone who knows how to execute it and how to make it work with structure from beginning to end. Yet would someone who is ready made for any and all different projects be someone you’d want to listen to? I guess at times, I view at how pop music is structured these days and Bass doesn’t necessarily fit in. But if you cater to that younger, more impressionable audience, you may limit yourself to what’s popular. Bass creates the music that you not only desire but becomes what you need. Hearing his version of The Beatles’ “Julia” can easily be one of the best moments of New York In Spring for if we are to speak about what New York represents for some, it is where John Lennon moved to and lived with Yoko Ono, and thus his spirit lives on during the spring, or any time of the year. Does the music represent what New York is today, or what it was? Or does it matter? Find a way to interpret these songs the way you want and you may discover why what he makes is for any and all because interpretation can lead to good things. So you can hear some songs of love for New York, be it at the park, on thesidewalk, or in a cafe, multi-seasonally speaking.

(Bass’ New York In Spring will be released in June.)

REVIEW: Jeremy Bass’ “Winter Bare”

If Winter Bare (self-release) tells the tales of a man who fares and hates the moods of what winter can provide to the mind, then Jeremy Bass knows exactly how to get those stories and tales out of his head and into musical form, as a means to turn around the occasional melancholy and see better times in the forthcoming season. By the time this album is released in April, it will have been spring for almost a month but Bass is someone who takes to his pop with elements of rock, folk, and country to turn up a style of music that is rootsy, warm, and rich with the kind of textures where you’re able to see it breathe and watch its pores expand. Part of the reason why songs such as “One More Cigarette”, “Winterlude (Banjo For Annie”) and “Lift Me Up” sound as strong and powerful as they are is because they were written during a downtime in Bass’ life, including getting divorced and selling the home they lived in. Putting those feelings in words and music can be a rough one but we’re able to here what he was going through and what he did in order to get from an end to new beginnings. It’s a bit like listening to an album by The Band you had never heard of before but recognize the cover, only to realize this album should’ve been part of your life as a kid. His next album is set to be full of bossa nova influences but for now, listen to what a cold life can feel like when the only thing you’re able to is throw in a log in the fireplace, one by one, to let you feel the madness but hope that it is all you need to get by for now.

(Winter Bare will be released on April 14th.)