Search - Bart Davenport :: Seal the Deal

!BUY THIS! Bart RULES!

Frank G | Hollywood, CA United States | 10/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Genius doesn't sit still. Join the travelling Bart parade into new territory. Having mastered the lingua franca of his soulful muse, Oakland, California's Bart Davenport takes us into uncharted territory. It's so much more than just "soft is the new loud." Bart somehow manages to convey spark and spontanaiety in a way that confounded Elvis Costello in his attempts to mix high art and lowdown funk( ie from Costellos 'difficult "Mighty Like a Rose" /"Brodsky Quartet"/"Blood and Chocolate" ie from 'King of America' onward). Ornette Coleman /Jazz messengers-type arrangements run head on into synthetic beats and mesmerizing vocals. Bart tackles Los Angeles early '80's The Three 0'Clock's 'Jet Fighter (man in the daytime)' with a fervor that actually makes his version transcend the original - Alan Parsons project's "Eye in the Sky" stakes out the dystopian vision its lyrics manifest. Maroon Cocoon was Bart's "Forever Changes" - expanding the possibilities and dragging his hardcore audience to try and keep up with him. This EP (to REALLY mix metaphors) is Bart's 'Taking Liberties' album. His 'outtakes' are superior to the majority of his peers' finished product. Barts solo writing (I Want Some , Desert Flower and Finest Girl in America) continues his love affair with the medium of the 'outer limits' of the pop song. Marrying Arthur Lee with The Soul Stirrers and Sonny James with Elmore James. I see a dash of Tim Hardin /The Band/Webb Pierce/Allison Krauss and Dickey Betts,and even Beck, floating in a well-written and exciting offering from the GREAT Bart Davenport.Buy it and enjoy the ride."