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Tom Bianchi

 

Tom Bianchi and Jason Gardner – 24:42
Produced by Jason Gardner

Considering it more prudent to record a palindromically-timed album than a carefully-considered one, local bass master Tom Bianchi recruits the formidable talents of trap setter Jason Gardner, but does not do much more with them than he did on his last solo album. Instead of exploring the deep rhythmic opportunities they have developed in the past, Tom and Jason most often opt for smile over substance. Aside from similar signs of unfulfilled genius on “Rainy Day Blues” and a few other gems, this temporally and thematically varied album ranges from two-second songs(?) like “Our Ballad” and the obviously entitled “Short Song” to longer and more engaging explorations like “Human Jukebox” and “Seven Seconds,” which smartly depict the often underappreciated life and times of a 24-hour musician. While Bianchi certainly is underrated as an artist, marketing fluffy stuff like this may not help him move forward in his career, despite his well-chosen partnership.

- Matthew S. Robinson
c. 2002, M. S. Robinson, ARR

 


 

Tom Bianchi – Park Street Blues
Recorded and produced by Michael Ward-Bergeman at Park Street Station, Boston

Laid down in the underground, bass-man Tom Bianchi’s album demonstrates a command of a variety of musical styles (not to mention the map of the Red Line). Combining toe-tapping musical lines with warnings to stand behind the yellow ones, Tom even gets the rats dancing to his peppy pop compositions. Though most of the light-hearted, personable tunes are based on a similarly Polka-d “oom-pah” rhythm, songs like ”Little Star-Spangled Wing,” “Rush Hour,” the lush washes of “Train Music” and the impressively beat-boxed duet “Seven Seconds” demonstrate Bianchi’s jazz-ability and his original improvisational skills. From the Vaudevillian television tribute “The Cheers Song” to the Boston DPW anti-tribute “Streets Sing sin Boston (or Lack Thereof), Tom is ever conscious of where he is and who is there with him. Throughout every song, Tom aims to please and is most often able to strike at the heart of even the most cantankerous commuter. Though some of his musical explorations are cut short by the piercing squeal of the lemmings in their shiny metal boxes, Tom makes the most of his 22 seconds of fame and sends his captive audiences off on at least a slightly more merry way.

- Matthew S. Robinson
© 2000 M. S. Robinson, ARR
 

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