ONOFFON

[onoffon]

The ONOFFON SSP of the Day comes from a progressive rock review site, Progressive World. While we have heavy jazz influences to our music, we continue to be well received by the progressive rock community -ProgressiveWorld.Nethttp://www.progressiveworld.net/onoffon.htmlOnoffon - Your Mind Reviewed by Stephanie Sollow"Um...okay. That was the easy part. Now comes the hard part. How to describe Your Mind... well, there are some very nice instrumental jazzy pieces, there is the slinky, seductive come-on of "Wet Legs" ... basically, you could say that Onoffon do speak their mind, but more on that in a minute. The first track, "Your Mind" is as if the chaotic nature of thoughts became manifest... the staccato lyric style reminded me of the way Trent Gardner composes, making this what might be termed a stripped down Magellan with jazz-funk overtones. Gardner aside, I don't care for this track much, but I do rather like the rest of the album, mainly the instrumentals. So, to start with those..."Shadowglass" is a light, but moody instrumental with vague hints at Jethro Tull... and not just because of Glen Garrett's alto flute. There is a folk undercurrent to this track, and yet there is something in that is very unfolk like. Bassist Von Babasin plays a sinewy bass line, while Don Lake's guitar takes a slightly Middle-Eastern cast as he solos. Contrary to expectations, during this solo, percussion (Dave Goode) and keys (Lake) are up more in the mix, giving this track an interesting layered dynamic. Meaning, the solo isn't the focus, but no element is hidden. It's one of those tracks you could listen to four times, and hear something different by focusing on a different instrument each time. We get a Latin jazz with "Mardi Gras" featuring Glen Garrett on a sweet, tasty soprano sax, the spirit of Tito Puente in the percussion. Not as brassy as the title might suggests, but no less evocative of the occasion. It's warm night, and the party is just getting started...not too wild yet. Great track. By comparison, the exquisite instrumental "Opus" is very low key with acoustic guitar, gentle bass, and sparse percussion. Even the layer of electric guitar that comes in at about 3 minutes is light and breathy, mostly bright with just a few dark shadings. Of the vocal tracks... "Ocean's Cry" is a slinky, funky, groovy piece, with some great bass work from Babasin. Though I wouldn't call this piece Latin, I hear a little Santana in the mix, especially in Lake's guitar work. Lyrically, it's kind a weird track...the gal's broke and the protagonist seems to be suggesting she either drown herself or just hit the ocean for quiet contemplation ... finding God, maybe? I don't know. "Bebe's Song" harks back to earlier times, bringing forth images of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack... kinda of a soft-shoe shuffle... this time with Babasin on lead vocals, backed by Carole Couture-Oliveri and Stacy Baltes (who also appear on two other tracks)."For Hell Sake's" starts a bit like Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar" (the intro bass phrase), but quickly becomes upbeat jazz, with a bit of harmonica. Though it doesn't itself sound like the following track I'm going to mention, the "aftertaste" is of "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" by The Gap Band. I mean, you could sing that song to this, though this is less funky... It's fairly catchy, as one can easily find themselves singing along. "Alley Want" is a low-key blues tune with the atmosphere set by Lake on harmonica. The blues come back with the Clapton like "You Know I Can't" which also harks back to a sound not heard since the 70s; it is balladic and warm."Wet Legs"...well, frankly, there is a sexual content to many of the songs, though this one is quite frank, all sung in a seductive manner. Any less earnest in the delivery and you'd chuckle like I do at the ELP song on Love Beach, "Taste Of My Love" (though I must admit I've only needed to play that album once, so it's the idea I chuckle at). Though here, he's positing a reversal of roles for the tastee and taster... Yes, well anyway, lyrics aside, I like the mostly slinky arrangement. For my tastes...and wasn't that a bad, yet unplanned, segue...I much prefer the instrumental tracks, and recommend you check this band out based on those alone. The performances all around are stellar though, so despite my not caring for the title track, this album gets a "recommend"."Thanks to Stephanie for another great review...

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Let's go back to GarageBand for today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day - these are a collection of reviews on our song, "Wet legs" -GarageBand.comONOFFON - "Wet Legs"Various reviewerspaig2956 - Howell, Michigan"Pleasure to the ears - Kind of Dave Matthews Band like... I thought this song sounds professional and was a pleasure to the ears."bluestrat27 - Cartersville, Georgia"What would Frank Zappa think? Well, I must say that I love the music, not to sure about the lyrics, however, I did listen to this song 5 times before writing this review. I guess that speaks for itself. Frank Zappa would be proud!"sumerit - Salina, Kansas"engaging song - Great guitar layering! Love the production work."Geneksa - Avenel, New Jersey"Takes you to another place. Great progression of the song, seductive, lyrically and musically. Very nice guitar work."terunaku - Hayward, California"Interesting track. Good guitar work and nice vocal."TristanGretrex - Bracknell, Berkshire, UK"Go and Listen to this! Great Intro Build Classic arrangement Lovely Guitar work Vocals are great."lvbob - Las Vegas, Nevada"Good Structured song. Nice guitar work, quality innovative musicians. Keep up the good work."timcain - Decatur, Illinois"Atmospheric, in a good way. It sounds like the guy has a good voice. In the solo, I like the guitar riffs through the verses -- very tasty."Fullerton - Orlando, Florida"True Rock n Roll! The song was original and honest, a definite winning combination. Truly music at it's best!"Well - thanks to all who participated - this song is not what you'd expect to hear out of the 'jazz' band you've been reading about throughout this thread...

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Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day is a review that just went live yesterday over at the Gods of Music - Gods of Musichttp://www.godsofmusic.com/gom/reviews.php?act ... 6751Artist: ONOFFON Song: Weekend in MontrealGENRE: Jazz SIMILAR: John Coltrane, Dave BrubeckReviewed by Frank Cotolo"Jazz, for me, has always been about the feel. That is, the melodies, the lyrics (if any) and the conduct of the pieces have never been as expressive to me as connecting with the essence of the performance. I cannot describe that essence any other way than simply to use the word "feel." Part of what the feel delivers is a portal for the listener to enter a realm of personal experience, which is communicated by the music. ONOFFON presents this experience with "Weekend In Montreal" and for me that is the core of its success. Sure, it is performed to perfection, recorded well and passes all the mechanical tests, but lots of music in all genres meets those qualifications. Me? I want the feel in a piece of music; I want to be taken away to my own world, so to speak. Listening to "Weekend In Montreal," I am touched with the feel; I go to the town where minor car accidents are as common as bilingual signs. I am in the city that France built, the village that isolates itself from its own continent; I am walking through the country stone castles and down the damp cobblestone streets. I can sense my own poetic experience, the melody of the street and feel it. The feel takes the other senses and ignites them. So, I can hear, smell, see and taste my weekend in Quebec as the vibes of ONOFFON's piece puncture me. This track is the real stuff; this real stuff is art. It is so rare these days that the stuff that art is made of can be experienced in any genre, because, perhaps, too many tracks meet the mechanical guidelines. Art does not care about the mechanics, the text, the details ... art is the feel." As an artist - THAT'S precisely what you want to do - inspire creative vision within the listener. I couldn't be happier with this review and I sincerely thank Frank for putting it down so eloquently...

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A double whammy for today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day - as a result of yesterday's stellar review of "Weekend in Montreal" over at Gods of Music - they featured us on their front page!http://www.godsofmusic.com/gom/index.phpI just love those front page features - here's another -ONOFFON was chosen as Featured Artist of the Month for February, 2004, at the Unsigned Band Web - this is what they had to say about us -Unsigned Band WebONOFFONReviewed by Ron Dilly"The Unsigned Band Web has chosen ONOFFON as the featured band for the month of February. ONOFFON brings unbelievable talent and style to their music and really breaks across many genre's. If you are a fan of ANY style of music, you should check them out. 'Mardi Gras' is the first cut on the Unsigned Band Radio playlist, just press the play button on the media player to your left and you will see why ONOFFON is February's featured artist! I can't figure out why this band is not signed!!"Thanks Ron - I appreciate the sentiment. I can't figure out why this band is not signed either - used to be when you showed dedication, talent, songwriting, and fanbase then someone would open their eyes and come to their senses... oh well...

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Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day comes to us from the Dutch Progressive Rock Pages - or DPRP - Dutch Progressive Rock PagesONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Ed Sander"Well, in the 'classical' sense of the word Onoffon is not a progressive rock band. In other words, they cannot be compared to all of the usual bands of the 70-ies and 80-ies. On the other hand, in the literal sense of the word, Onoffon is as progressive as music can get. I was highly surprised when I played this CD; the band mix about every musical style imaginable into their compositions; funk, fusion, blues, rock, psychadelica, you name it. Some bits and pieces would not have been out of place on Sting's early solo albums. Von, Don and Dave form the basis of Onoffon, but they use a couple of guest musicians as well, adding to the diversity of the music.Onoffon are clearly a very talented band. The rhythm section is very tight and Don's vocals and guitar are very good as well. The band uses a lot of harmonica, and what to think of exotic instruments like koto, marimba and conga ? The female backing vocals are very good as well. If you are a straight progger in the 'classical' sense of the word, you probably won't have to worry about this album.However, if you're not afraid of diversity and would like to broaden your horizons, you might as well try it. Especially if your into jazz/fusion-prog. The booklet is an 8-page folding one with all lyrics, pictures of the band members (thank God, musicians can still smile !) and credits."Thanks to Mr. Sander for an interesting take on our first CD...

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ONOFFON's SSP of the Day is another group of reviews from Virtually Records' Club Knowledge - Virtually RecordsONOFFON - Various trackschicken MO"this band is WOW! i give it a big, big 10 for the music!!! and i thought, so various only Luxus could be..."adam kravitz"Great tunes, i loved the arrangements. Solid, driving, and a refreshing sound to hear:)" motivateVittorio Merlo"This is the jazz music I like, with a good feeling technique and passion, not too cold and not the classic one. A real good blend."TINGLE "Like a hot shower after a rough day...Onoffon really soothes my mood with their awesome musical flavor. The flautist is great, vocals, everything! Definitely Jazz at it's best. Great grooves, smooth vocals....Platinum-bound material!!!"Steve Ono "I love this sound!"Mick OD "Love the reviews!! Now I'm a big fan of Von and Onoffon."John Griffith"These guys are for real. Top notch, A-1, prime cut, rhythmic, bluesy, jazzy tunage that you can't help but dig and admire. Enlighten and entertain your ears with some of this stuff. It's tasty to the max."Johnny Asia"The pronouncement issued by various "jazz fundamentalists" that "Fusion is dead" has been proven to be premature by ONOFFON. ONOFFON has contributed greatly to the continuing evolution of jazz and fusion. Their musicianship is uncompromising and their musicality has a broad appeal that transcends the labeling. As a "Fusion" artist myself, I am greatly encouraged and inspired by the existence and growing success of ONOFFON!"We thank the artists and listeners alike for their insight to what we do...

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The ONOFFON SSP of the Day is from a place called Grandma Reviews - no, not my grandma - but it's all so complimentary, one might think so...Grandma ReviewsONOFFON - Various tracks"'Bebe's Song' - are you ready to jump back 50 years in time, for a snappy jazzy little vocal treat! These guys are musicians, musicians and i bet could play any song, + or style under the sun. This little jem had grandma tapping her toes in her little boots! and singing along drinking an ice cold lemonade in the shade! especially *take note* of the vocal harmony between the lead singer and the female vocalist. sweet and smooth as honey! i popped in 'Oceans Cry' just to see where else they would go? and this one is kind of had a little mombo combo island jimbo jombo tropical kind of feel, which eventually breaks into a wild harmonica solo! and then follows with with a jimmy jazz like wild guitar solo, and all kinds of timing changes and a few odd breaks. no doubt that these guys have been playing for awhile!and another song 'Mardi Gras' = a latin jazz number that lets a horn do all the main melody lines = go daddy go!!!!!!!!! this is a snazzy hot little up-tempo number. if jazzy blues is your kind of music? get on over there and watch these guys knock your musical socks off! - gm"Our thanks to grandma - whoever's grandma you happen to be...

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ONOFFON's SSP of the Day is a return to Progressive World, for their take on our first CD -ProgressiveWorld.netONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Stephanie Sollow "Surrender Now is the first album from California's jazz-blues-r&b-rock outfit OnOffOn. Like their follow-up, Your Mind, the collection of tunes is rather eclectic, though all pretty much staying within that jazz-blues-r&b-rock motif, sprinkling progressive elements here and there. Though in the course of this review, I'll mention each track, they aren't necessarily in playing order.The title track is a 70s r&b sounding track that begins at first reminiscent of the Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Running," owing to the harmonica of guitarist/vocalist/harmonica-ist (to make up a word) Don Lake. "Rock Garden" edges closer to the smooth-jazz realm for a brief moment, with its hazy, laid-back rhythm, though Lake as vocalist is uncharacteristic for that genre. The next track, the harder edged, blues-rock number "Your Reality," which gets into a mellow-ZZ Top kinda groove, this crossed with a Hendrix-like groove for the latter half. The Hendrix-ness, by the way, returns with the funky "I Don't Give No...," though in both cases, it is the Hendrix of "Purple Haze." "Inside My Soul," with bassist/keyboardist Von Babasin on vocals is a mellow, torchy, warm, bluesy number, though lyrically it's rather sad, someone trying to work through the loss of someone very close. In that, it's touching. Musically, it's the kinda mellow material that Bonnie Raitt took to the top of the charts nearly a decade ago now -- though Babasin doesn't sound like Raitt, that's not the comparison. But anyone familiar with her Nick Of Time album, should keep "Ain't Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again" in mind - even down to the keyboards, which have a distinctive Rhodes sound to them. Along the same lines is "The Gift Must Always Move," an instrumental track that makes me think of Craig Chaquico, and it's more than just the sound of steel strings, as Lake's playing here echoes Chaquico's stylistically as well. A jazzier America also comes to mind, as well as Al DiMeola, for one. The other, first, instrumental is "Weekend In Montreal," which is at times energetic classic jazz, at times becomes mellow, cool jazz, all led by the tenor sax of Glen Garrett (and reminding me the sax in "Your Latest Trick" from Dire Straits). While that's not to say I don't like the other stuff, this is the kinda stuff I like, this "Weekend In Montreal." Yeh, I could listen to a whole album of the stuff on "The Gift..." and "Weekend...""Please Baby Please" has light, upbeat rhythm, highly percussive -- drummer Dave Goode is credited with "bluejeans, fannypack, newspaper" as his instruments, while bassist Babasin contributes fingersnaps along with bass, leaving guitars and vocals to Lake. Walking bass begins "Letter Received," a story-song that others compare to Tom Waits, and given the gravelly-voiced parts that are "the letter," I know exactly why they say that. Lake even does a bit scatting in this easy, soft-shoe like piece. The other voice of OnOffOn is displayed in the acoustic guitar lead "If A Thief Were I." Lake plays an extended, often fragile intro. It is sensitive without being weak, assured without being aggressive. This track really feels like two, because the acoustic section is long (the track itself is 11-plus minutes). Once the vocal portion begins, the instrumentation is filled out by Kris Berry on conga, vibes and marimba, Babasin on bass, and Carole Couture-Oliveri on backing vocals. There are shades of James Taylor, Jim Croce and Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" -- by way of comparison.The album ends with "Remember Only..." which begins as very moody, dark, atmospheric piece, quite subtle, but ominous... Maybe because I just saw it, but this could very well serve as the incidental music for something like Lord Of The Rings, or some other dark, dark drama... Pounding percussion resolves out of a orchestral swell, but dies off... here the track becomes very, very quiet again... the first time I was listening, I though the disc had ended. This is the proggiest track, when you recall... remember? ... that progressive music expands beyond the rock definition. This is an epic, cinematic piece, that, aside from the two highlights of their jazz identity, and the highlight that comes before this track ("Thief"), is the best piece of music that OnOffOn have to offer... and you get more than 8 minutes of it. I think of Steve Roach's Midnight Moon release... with the latter four minutes or so, things become much more energetic, more rhythmic, but not losing its acoustic base."Thanks to Stephanie for another in depth look at our music....

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Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day comes from SheHeShe Music Services - a radio promotion company that reviewed our CD for the heck of it -SheHeShe Music ReviewONOFFON - Progressive Jazz Rock"This group sent us two albums, the first, "Surrender Now" was recorded in 1997, and the second (the one which we reviewed), "Your Mind" 1999.The title, and first cut on the album makes you wonder if someone slipped something strange into your coffee. You're not sure whether or not you want to hear the rest of the CD...but when you get to cut #2, "Shadowglass" you're glad you stuck around for this great Jazz group.Musicianship is EXCELLENT! It brings to mind smoky bars and Jazz greats. With Don Lake on guitars, harmonica, vocals & keyboards, Von Babasin on bass, drums, bongos, Dave Goode on drums, percussion, Glen Garrett on alto flute, soprano sax and Stacey Baltes, Carole Couture-Olivieri on back up vocals, you are in for a real treat with this album.You can hear this group on www.stompinground.com and they are well worth the money to purchase these albums. We highly recommend this one for any music library."Our thanks to Angel Davis for her wonderful review...

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Here's another group of reviews from the old Mp3.com BBs for today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day-Mp3.com Bulletin BoardsONOFFON - Mardi Gras and various tracksJ.D.R. "'Mardi Gras' - Great band. Tasty alto good chops, lots of experience there I can tell. Good mix. Good production. Everything is very tight and has great feeling to it. Lots of soul here sounds great. I played in New Orleans myself and loved it there. Great job guys. I don't have a clue why you guys are not stars yet." - J.D.R.notesleb "ONOFFON is certainly one of my favorite bands...definitely amongst the Top 5 bands I have found on the internet. Peace" - Steve LeBlancpyro013 "I honestly can't think of a single thing that could use some work on in this song so i cant give any advice on improving it. Your group is extremely talented."1s and 0s "Hi, the only thing I have to say about this is that it sounds great. Very upbeat. I would love to hear you guys live. I'll bet you put on a great live show if you can make a studio track sound this good. Excellent! 9.5/10"H.G.L. "Oh!! Yah!!! I'm off to the Mardi Gras. What a really coooooool song." WorkBeaSingha "'Mardi Gras' = Cool sax work here hehe.. Not my strong genre but it's cool.. 'Please Baby Please' = Bassy start .. Cool Sound.. Nice Vocals.. hehe Great Track... 'Your Mind' = Strange start man.. Glittering.. Cool there after.. Cool Voices hehe.. Sounds Like a Great Party hehe.. 'Bebe's Song' = Bassy Again.. cool drums.. hehe Nice Vocals here.. And lyrics.. Sounds like the OLD times 'Inside My Soul' = Hmm Different from your Other trax.. More Nowadays hehe.. Cool sound there.. Kind Of Sad track.. Keep Up the Good Work" - Nick aka "BeaSingha"Thanks to those who contributed to our ever expanding archive of reviews...