Pianist, composer, and arranger Kris Bowers' debut album, 2014's Heroes + Misfits, is an expansive and ambitious work that showcases the Juilliard-trained artist's genre-defying skills. Based in jazz but with an ear for contemporary R&B, film scores, and electronic music, Bowers is somewhat of an amiable iconoclast. Raised on his parent's old-school soul albums and '90s hip-hop and trained since high school in jazz and classical piano, Bowers is certainly a wunderkind of sorts, able to cross musical boundaries with ease. ...
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Pianist, composer, and arranger Kris Bowers' debut album, 2014's Heroes + Misfits, is an expansive and ambitious work that showcases the Juilliard-trained artist's genre-defying skills. Based in jazz but with an ear for contemporary R&B, film scores, and electronic music, Bowers is somewhat of an amiable iconoclast. Raised on his parent's old-school soul albums and '90s hip-hop and trained since high school in jazz and classical piano, Bowers is certainly a wunderkind of sorts, able to cross musical boundaries with ease. And crossing boundaries is exactly what Bowers does on Heroes + Misfits, delving into an elegiac, vocal-driven R&B ballad ("WonderLove") one minute and improvising over a fractured, post-punk dance beat ("Wake the Neighbors") the next. In many ways, he doesn't so much cross boundaries as mash them together, creating wholly original soundscapes. Songs like "Vices and Virtues" and "Drift" reveal a compositional ear grounded in harmonically sophisticated jazz that's as much influenced by the contemporary avant-garde Knitting Factory scene as it is by the classic works of artists like John Coltrane and Oscar Peterson. Elsewhere, on tracks like the opening "Forever Spring" and "Forever Wonder," Bowers mixes the hypnotic ambient style of classical composers like Steve Reich and Phillip Glass with a synth-based style that's reminiscent of '70s Stevie Wonder. Ultimately, with Heroes + Misfits, Bowers presents a world of musical eclecticism, where jazz is merely the jumping-off point to further explorations of sound. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
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Add this copy of Heroes + Misfits to cart. $4.10, good condition, Sold by Book Alley rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pasadena, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Concord Music Group.
Add this copy of Heroes + Misfits to cart. $4.99, very good condition, Sold by Service First Media rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Taylorsville, KY, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Concord Jazz.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Includes disc(s), case, booklet, and back artwork. May show slight wear. Disc(s) are professionally cleaned and may contain only light scratches that do not effect functionality.
Add this copy of Heroes + Misfits to cart. $4.99, fair condition, Sold by Service First Media rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Taylorsville, KY, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Concord Jazz.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. Ex-Library rental. Disc(s) are professionally cleaned and may contain only light scratches that do not effect functionality. Includes disc(s), case, booklet, and back artwork. Disc(s), case, booklet, and back artwork may contain library/security stickers and ink writing. Case and artwork may show some wear. Case may not be an original jewel case. All disc(s) are authentic.
