ONOFFON

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Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day is from the British Isles - IndieMonkey ReviewsONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Limeygit"First I have to give out 'props', or whatever the current buzz word is for thanks, to Von Babasin bass player of ONOFFON. He has contributed a very fine article to this site, we love you for it! Von is one-third of ONOFFON, a band that are about as easy to pin down to a musical definition as it is to grab a greased snake. They are a little bit Funk, a little bit Rock and a little bit more Jazz. If I had to try and nail their sound in one go I would probably go for 'musician's music'. This release barely scrapes in under the seventy minute mark, with two of the eleven tracks weighing in at over eleven and twelve minutes respectively. So far what I have been describing is a commercial suicide, Jazz-Rock, twelve minutes plus songs, that's what I meant by musician's music, so those of you looking for a quick pop or punk fix can just hit back and find another review. OK, are the youngsters gone, good we can stop holding our stomachs in and start relaxing without having to seem cool. ONOFFON are the kind of band you have to have played in yourself or be past thirty to really get. I am still shy of the thirty mark but I did in my youth play in many a band, although I was a drummer so 'musician' is pushing it. ONOFFON are a three piece, joining Von is Don Lake on Guitars and Vocals and Dave Goode on Drums (and according to the sleeve 'bluejeans, fannypack and newspaper' on one track). They produce a surprisingly complex and rich sound for just three guys. Personally I think they are stronger when they focus their sound a little more, as they do on tracks such as 'Please Baby Please', 'Your Reality' (which has a definite Hendrix Voodoo Child thang going on) and 'I Don't Give No...', than when they go off on musical adventures as the do on most of the rest of the album. That said it is at no stage an album that isn't pleasant to listen to, whether I agree with the journey being necessary, it is still a fun trip. So if you have a fondness for experimental different Jazz influenced rock then you could do a lot worse than give ONOFFON a listen."Props to Limeygit for having fun with our musical adventures...

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A quartet of reviews on our song, "Weekend in Montreal", from the GarageBand website serves as our ONOFFON SSP of the Day. They're like the junior BroadJam - GarageBand.comONOFFON - "Weekend in Montreal"Various reviewersThe Gremlins - Birmingham, Michigan"wow why the hell are u on this web site. this is the best song i've heard on here. incredible 100 % professional cool arrangment. true jazz with complex structure it tickles your ears. the best song i have heard on here by a long shot. i dig the groove keep up the good work. i really like thoses clean drum rolls, and the slow and fast parts are good together great everything. usually i make a lot of criticisms and suggest tons of ways to improve but this i really can't complain. really excellent great job guyz."chikafilipina - Richmond, B.C., Canada"AWESOME! You grabbed my attention right off the bat. This is the kind of swinging jazz that I love a lot. Got to say the way you slowed it down in the middle of the song was great. Everything just works so well together, and the SAX!!! Yay! Great job! You guys are doing awesome. I really like this stuff and would love to hear more by you."Lingon - Arboga, Västmanland, Sweden"Ohhh my god!!! I'm amazed!!! I really like the Sax intro. All you guys are great performers, the drummer really knows what he is doing (as for the saxophone). In some parts you guys remind me of GONG."TheOnlyWarrior - Brighton, Victoria, Australia"Crazy! Love the delay on the sax! Breaking into the slower section works really well. The fingerpicked guitar part is modulating a touch too much at the start, but the feel is really nice. The second rock ballad section is the best part of the song in my opinion, at least on first listen, but its a very strong ending. Good luck!"Thanks to GarageBand for giving us a platform to receive such reviews...

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The ONOFFON SSP of the Day comes from a trio of respected jazz artists from the Prime*ART*istJazzClub - a collection of jazz artists from around the world who came together on Mp3.com -Prime*ART*ist Jazz ClubONOFFON - "Weekend in Montreal"George Kahn"I know these guys, and am proud to hail from LA, as they do. This song is definitely ON,OFF,ON - it puts you through some changes. Aggressive, angular, - NOT music to do dishes by. The sax player works in the tradition of Albert Ayler and Marion Brown, but the band is not afraid to set a groove and stick to it along the way. This is music that demands attention."Askold Buk"It's a testament to one's songwriting skills when he/she can grab your interest immediately. Onoffon did just that with "Weekend in Montreal" - they had me hooked after the first five notes! What a powerful, catchy theme, especially in an "outside" setting! After the sax flurry, the tune takes you to a few different thematic/textural places. Great sax work, too!"Mike Fijal"I've been listening to this very fine fusion band for awhile now and I never tire of their sound. Weekend in Montreal is a good example of their ability to dazzle with adventurous experiments and creative innovations. They stretch your ears in a highly musical way. They have a way of taking you on a space trip in their tunes. They have wonderful flow. Every tune is an engaging voyage deeper into space jazz. I love these guys."Each one of these gentlemen is an amazing artist in their own right - I respectfully thank them for taking the time to listen and give their thoughts on our music...

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ONOFFON's SSP of the Day comes from another print magazine in the U.K. - they actually printed a quarter page for us with a pic of the band and this caption -MP3 Magazine, U.K.ONOFFON"Von is clearly gunning for Gaz Reynolds record of having music on every single website in the known universe. No round-up of MP3 jazz bands would be complete without ONOFFON (geddit?). Their jazz-rock fusion sounds are pretty impressive, all told, and certainly perked up the office when we played 'em last week. Definitely worth investigating."I didn't even know about this mag until an artist I had networked with on the internet told me about it. She found her copy and mailed it to me for our promotional archives. Our thanks to Queenie for sending this mag to us and of course, thanks to MP3 Magazine for finding us worthy of mention...

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Since Queenie was kind enough to send us the magazine from the last posting, I thought I would post a review she wrote about us for Easter's ONOFFON SSP of the Day - ONOFFON - "Mardi Gras"Reviewed by Queeniehttp://www.queeniemusic.com/"Song: Mardi Gras. Artist: Onoffon. Style: Jazz. Enchanting from the very first bars, this Caribbean instrumental salsa piece features wonderful guitar playing, a warm acoustic ambient beat, and skilled solos in a typical jazz format. Most prominent is the saxophone, played with extreme dexterity and naturalness. Mardi Gras will leave you with a sunny place, the music seems straight off the beaches of someplace a lot warmer than Chicago. Onoffon is a very recognized band on the web, mainly due to the efforts and the hard work of band member Von Babasin to create exposure for the group. Unlike many others, Onoffon has the chops and the quality riffs to hold your interest and keep you coming back for more."We can't thank Queenie enough for her kind words and kind heart...

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ONOFFON's SSP of the Day is from the print magazine, LUKE, from Leicester in the U.K. As I mentioned before, we have appeared in four issues of this underground prog mag, including twice with reviews and once with a two page interview. Here is the review of Surrender Now -LUKE MagazineONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Luke"If I had to guess which groups ONOFFON had in their record collection, I'd probably start with the Grateful Dead, some Little Feat would creep in, Weather Report and Santana would definitely be represented, and from the U.K.: Cream, Peter Green era Mac and possibly a couple of Canterbury bands would make a showing too. When ONOFFON put all those influences together the result could be called progressive r&b, except I've no idea what that really means. I do know that in Don Lake they've got a guitarist who understands the genres they're messing with extremely well and a rhythm section of Von Babasin and Dave Goode who often shine. The first two thirds of the album, or tracks one to nine if you haven't got a copy in front of you (you probably haven't), are made up of shorter songs that explore a plethora of styles and moods, but it's the last two tracks where they really let go. If A Thief Were I and Remember Only... both stretch themselves at ten minutes plus, and are extremely welcome. I imagine on a stage, ONOFFON can really open up, but I don't expect to see them down at The Shed in the near future, so the record will have to do for now." Our sincere thanks to Luke for appreciating our music and including us in so many issues...

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Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day is from a collective group of reviewers that frequented the review boards over at Mp3.com -MorantONOFFON...........review #9 "WOW!!!! wow! We here are all jazz nuts and we are all applauding. You guys sound truly classy, almost a Flecktones vibe without the show off-over top-look at me quality. Very smooth fluid jazz, Excellent musicianship, and a truly seasoned feel about the whole band. Your production sounds really nice, nothing is overdone, everything sounds "real" and authentic as if you were right there. Of course major props to the sax man on "Mardi Gras" but we love the guitar player too....you rock dude, your comping is fantastic, your lead tone is creamy sweet too....the overdriven tone is very old "Al"......everybody on our little panel here wants you guys to write this dude a song and stick him up front like the sax in "Mardi Gras" and let him go the %@#$ off!!! Having listened to your first 6 songs we like the instrumentals better than the vocal stuff, although I do really like how the vocals creep into "Surrender Now", at first it almost gave me that WeatherReport/Birdland "people" feeling. But again it's a personal taste thing with vocals...I'd like to hear you guys with a chick vocalist...having said that, she'd have to be an awful classy dame to hang w/ you guys. Again, the vocal thing is just our taste...we can't come up with a thing wrong with the vocals there except that we like the sax better. For us there is no real way to critique ONOFFON, the conversation continually drifts off into jazz in general, making ONOFFON comparable to the greats in the jazz world.....to say I would change this or that would just be my own theory on the whole. We're all DiMeola freaks. We want more guitar, big suprise...This is the kind of thing that rates 5 of 5!!!!! A compleat package, a really real for real band straight up on their game. Bravo! Jazz lives on..............I will be listening to more."Wha? Flecktones? Weather Report? Comparable to the greats in the jazz world?EXTREME thanks to Morant for such amazing comments on our music...

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The ONOFFON SSP of the Day is the final of four reviews we've received over at Gods of Music. This time, it's our acid jazz fusion bop title track from our second CD, called "Your Mind". Gods Of Music ONOFFON - "Your Mind" Genre: Jazz/ Prog-Fusion-Do-Da Similar artists: George Clinton, Frank Zappa Reviewed by Norm Bowler   <br>"ONOFFON has an axe to grind. Or maybe it's a Swiss army knife, because they have more than one blade rubbing the stone, if you get my drift. Then again, perhaps it's a potted plant that's already sharp enough to slice through metrical murk and vapid innuendo. How else would you explain the chaotic mix of prog-rock, hard bop, and do-da surrealism that is "Your Mind?" The obvious comparisons are to Yes and Frank Zappa, but I am reminded most of George Clinton and Parliament / Funkadelic. Like Clinton's hot-enough-to-melt-the-tape funk jams, ONOFFON takes a bunch of talented musicians and lets them go off all over an unstoppable groove. But instead of funk, in this case it's a prog-rock bass-driven line. It's played with such intensity and angularity that you'd swear it's in a trick time like 5/4 or 7/8, but it's straight 4. And what a 4 it is! The first 30 seconds are a tempoless mix of piano-string plonking, unidentified squeaks, and what sounds suspiciously like leopard snarls. It's OK, though. The boys and girls just need to get this bit out of their systems to show us how cool they are. Then the aforementioned bass-and-guitar line from the musical fun house kicks in, followed by layers of vocal scat and frenetic fusion-style drums. About 1:25, they get to the real point, which is "your mind." NFN spends the rest of their four minutes giving verbal and non-verbal examples of how the modern world does the non-consensual nasty with our grey wet squishy thinking parts. All the musicians have great chops, but no-one says "no" to a wacky idea here. As a result, this song has something to alienate everyone, so I don't recommend it without reservation. Zappa or Bonzo Dog Band fans (yes, there really is a band by that name) will have a good time. Everyone else will need to approach this with an open mind. Or an open potted plant. Watch out for that grindstone." Personally, I LOVE this review. It's not the most complimentary review we've received over at GOM, but it captures perfectly what we're doing with this song. I absolutely love it when a reviewer 'gets it'... Thanks Norm! BTW - I loved the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, and, of course, Frank Zappa...

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Happy Tax Day everybody! Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day is another trio of reviews left over at a promotional website called FunEnder -FunEnder.comONOFFON - Various tracksJesse HensleePost subject: Results From 180 Song Reviews"So today I’m posting the results of these reviews and creating a station “Pick Of The Month”<br>1. The Best Band = ONOffON song = “Ocean Cry”<br>This is a jam! This song has always been my favorite of all! This rocks my friend! Love the change up at 2:25! Good lead guitar! Von has to be the best dam bass player I ever heard! I really enjoy listening to your songs tonight, I hadn’t heard these tracks in a long time. Everybody - this is a tight and very Professional band, give these songs a spin and sit back and enjoy!"michael payneRe: give me your music, ill give you my opinion"hey von, hows it goin. i loved "mardi gras" you guys are excellent musicians. i mean i really really liked your stuff. let me know if and when you play in the L.A. area. ill definitely come. thanx-------------- michael" Thomas DobsonONOFFON "'Mardi Gras' - Very nice soprano sax riffs and a great beat and structure... 'Weekend In Montréal' - At the beginning it almost sounds like The Mothers Of Invention... and as the weekend progresses so does the song mood. A good jam!'Alley Want' - Good, I was waiting for some vocals and here they are! And very good and cool vocals too! Nice guitar too! You guys Jazz and Rock!! - Thomas"Thanks to the guys over at FunEnder for being so complimentary...

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Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day comes from Gods of Music - but, instead of one particular track reviewed, this is a review on the entire CD. Unusual for this site -Gods of Musichttp://www.godsofmusic.com/gom/articles.php?ac ... 130ONOFFON - "Your Mind"Reviewed by Jonathan Sanders "This CD is filled to the brim with well performed jazz that reminds me of a combination of the Dave Matthews Band and a now defunct Bloomington, Indiana band known as Flattus. OnOffOn combines their high end jazz with grooves that could make an old man start to move. In the end it comes together to form an album that succeeds quite nicely. The first track that really gets my attention isn’t the opener (“Your Mind”) but rather the second track, “Shadowglass”. It starts out with a lot of low end sounds, some bass and guitar, and then a lot of flute. And that is what makes this song so enjoyable. It’s like sitting back and letting yourself float through a sea of ether. Your mind lets go and your ears take over. That’s the way it has to be with great stuff like this. “Mardi Gras”, the fourth cut off the album, is a sax-filled groove that is very energetic, yet it doesn’t let the energy tear the song apart. The music is firmly in control, and let me tell you, this is some damn fine music. The mood holds up through “Ocean’s Cry”, a much heavier track, featuring some tough-as-nails electric, along with amazing bass. The vocalist takes away somewhat from the kickass groove, but I forgive him. And I must say, there are some nice harmonies in it, which makes up for any shortcomings. Then, track six finds you listening to my favorite off the whole album, “Bebe’s Song”. Musically interesting, this song is definitely out of my league, almost certainly out of my time. It’s hard to describe, but I must say that the vocals in this one are top notch. The male and female parts weave in and out of the xylophones in the background, keeping my toes tapping along for the ride. I don’t know if this would be called bossa nova, but that’s a style that seems to fit. Either way, you have to listen to see what I mean. “Because you love me, just because you say you love me . . . everywhere we go, somebody’s saying I’m lucky you’re crazy for loving a guy like me . . .” I don’t have enough space to detail every song here. But let’s just agree that you need to hear OnOffOn’s cleverly orchestrated jazz music. Combining great melodies with high class jazz that appeals to the listener in all of us, Your Mind is an album you won’t want to turn off."We'd like to thank Jonathan for taking the time to review our second CD...