Search - Tony Scherr :: Come Around

Tony Scherr
Come Around
Genres: Jazz, Pop

Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
1. Luck In Your Eye
2. Stuck It Out
3. In My Hands
4. What Kind of Friend Are You
5. Food For News
6. Come Around
7. Goodbye
8. Poor Katy's Car
9. What Am I Now
10. Almost Believe in Everything
11. Sacramento
12. Are You My Friend

CD Details

All Artists: Tony Scherr
Title: Come Around
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Smells Like Records
Release Date: 7/2/2002
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 787996004822

Synopsis

Album Description

Come Around began it's life in 2000 as a privately pressed CD in a humble cardboard sleeve for sale at gigs. In the fall of 2001 a copy fell into the hands of Steve Shelley, who was so impressed he proposed to give it a "proper" release through Smells Like Records. Recorded in a mere three days in Tony's Brooklyn home studio, the album has the intimate, intuitive, one-take atmosphere that only the closest-knit group of muscian/friends can achieve. That the players all happen to be supremely accomplished adds up to the best of both worlds -- a precisely executed yet still spontaneous sound. Erstwhile drummer Kenny Wollesen, Tony's most frequent rhythm section sparring partner, is at perhaps his most subtle and supportive here, providing a superb backbone for Chris Brown's unfurling hot Hammond licks and the serpentine chimes of Tony's guitar. Tony's brother (and ex-teenage rock band-mate) Peter Scherr rounds out the core group on string bass. Throw in the contributions of cellist Jane Scarpantoni (Tricky, Beastie Boys, REM) and Bill Frisell and you have a cast that can literally, legitimately be called world class. The music features all of the extended concepts and techniques gleaned from Tony's work in the more adventurous corners of the NY music scene, but deploys them in service of a stunningly fine-tuned pop sense. Scherr is able to capture that rarest of vibes -- music that references genres (country, rock, soul, blues, and jazz are all there) implicitly, and thus manages to sound utterly un-derivative. Tunes such as "Stuck it Out"; the Gram-worthy "In My Hands"; "Sacramento", a lilting lullabye for avant-banjo; and the standout title track -- like Dinosaur in a dogfight with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers -- should be hits in any universe.

CD Reviews

This record has some high profile fans, and deservedly so...

Headstrong Pictures | NYC | 01/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tony Scherr's solo debut, Come Around (Smells Like Records, 2002), is jazz informed, soul inspired, blues infused, country tinged, breathtaking rock and roll. The lyrics are raw and vulnerable, vivid and evocative, wryly insightful and frequently heartrending, with what seems like endless layers of subtext and possible interpretations. There are occasional overt nods to the artist's heroes like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and Bill Frisell, but the songwriting, musicianship and production style are all uniquely, unmistakably Tony Scherr.

This isn't background music. You don't pop it in at a dinner party or on a drive to the beach. You listen to Come Around on a good sound system, alone or with like-minded friends. You sit quietly and you listen. Sure, you'll tap your foot. Occasionally your jaw will drop in disbelief. Bolting upright and pacing with rhythmic exhilaration is not uncommon. Even out and out dancing has been known to occur. Whatever you end up doing, though, it won't be alongside the music, but rather because of the music.

Of the many notable (albeit obscure) records he has produced out of his Brooklyn home/studio, such as Slow Poke's At Home (the brilliant byproduct of a hastily arranged jam session meant to test out the studio), the second (and best) Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos release, Crooked Lines, Kate Fenner's rousing, bucolic, folk anthem-filled debut, Horses and Burning Cars, Rick Moranis' wry, but genuine Grammy nominated foray into country music, The Agoraphobic Cowboy, and Ursa Minor's lush, heavy and stirring Silent Moving Picture, Come Around is still the best, but anyone who's heard some of Scherr's newer material at a live show won't be surprised if his long awaited follow up, Twist In The Wind (supposedly due out this year) tops it.

There's a reason that Norah Jones, Feist, Bonnie Raitt, Ani DiFranco and KT Tunstall all count this record among their favorites. There's a reason that nearly everyone I've shared it with has fallen head over heels for this artist. Give Tony Scherr's Come Around your full attention once and I'm betting that reason will be patently clear."