Jae Sinnett - 2024 - The Blur the Lines Project

(37:02; Jae Sinnett)

Here we have the 21st album from drummer/vocalist Jae Sinnnett and this time he has gone back to the rock music which originally interested him when he was starting to play. He has brought together pianist and Hammond B-3 organist Allen Farnham, bassist Terry Burrell, guitarist Jason Cale and tenor saxophonist Ada Rovatti to work on new arrangements of rock classics, which also includes improvisations as well as what was scored. They then work their way through  Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate,” The Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein,” Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride,” Deep Purple’s “Hush” (yes, I know it is not the original, but this was the one which inspired Jae) and Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.

I must confess to not being familiar with Rare Earth, but all the others are very well-known to me, and it is interesting to hear the treatments they are given. There are times when they are very close to the original and plenty of others where they are totally in a world of their own, with “Frankenstein” in particular being taken down some very jazzy avenues. It doesn’t always work, with “Immigrant Song’ having nothing of the original power and feeling very lightweight indeed which is what happens when jazz musicians are asked to really belt out the rock, while the keyboard/sax sounds used to provide the vocal melody line on “Tom Sawyer” is very out of place indeed. The result is something which will probably be intriguing once or twice, but whether it is returned to often by the listener is another thing altogether. 

Kev Rowland, July 2025

Links:
https://jaesinnett.com/