Usually you only tell people about good reviews from the press and the media. This following section however contains negative feedback. As a matter of fact in the band's opinion they are so off sometimes that we wonder if the right CD was in the reviewer's CD-player. After discussing some of the reviews we also discovered that a lot of our most favorite CDs had gotten totally bad reviews. So may be we ARE finally on the right track.
BeebleBrox Improves on 'Intergalactic'. But the wake-up call comes a little too late
Good news! BeebleBrox are beginning to blink their eyes, wriggle their toes and respond to voices after releasing two comatose albums, Quantumn Tweezers and Raw Material.
Although there's only an EP's worth of material on their new record,
the 10-song Indianapolis Intergalactic Spaceport,
the band shows significant improvement from the other snoozefests. Those gains have come from the
band's
discovery of organic instruments
such as acoustic piano and upright bass, while they have eschewed,
at least partially, the operating room sterility of digital and electronic
gadgetry.
The album's lead-off track, the up-tempo Broxology
capitalizes
on Dr. Monika Herzig's decorative, yet
tasteful piano flourishes, Peter Kienle's
blues guitar riffs and Tom Clark's soulful tenor sax.
With a bottom-heavy, swinging rhythm section, the Downbeat magazine
award winner Let's Fool One shows the more reckless
and
emotional side of the band. Clark's
sax runs delightfully amok while bass and drums ebb and flow to Herzig's dashing piano breaks.
Also worthy is the dreamy and forlorn Sherrie's Song
written for Sherrie Murray, who died June 27, 1996 and the
hoppin' Jack Helsley
composition,
Chatterbrox.
Productions credits go to Dave Weber, who did a remarkable job of
setting the musical table, then letting the acoustic instruments speak for themselves.
And now for the bad news.
The electronic wind instrument and guitar synhesizer suck the life
out of Spaceport Bar Band Blues. The musical
motif is
weak, the tempo monotonous. "Spaceport" doesn't
The same maladies plague the John Teshian Wayne's
World, the tepid Loose Ends and the
flaccid
Beautiful Secrets.
If BeebleBrox could ditch their hollow new age material and keep their soul intact, they could
continue to evolve, and their fourth album
could be called, Once more - with feeling.
Lisa Sorg, Bloomington Voice
** BeebleBrox, the Bloomington band that frequently visits Indianapolis
jazz spots, could have used a good editor to help cut the fat from
its latest release. With its less-plugged-in sound, the new CD is fitfully
an attractive showcase of the band, which is spearheaded by the German-born
husband-and-wife team of Monika Herzig, keyboards, and Peter Kienle,
guitars.
Let's Fool One,
Herzig's award-winning composition of a few years back, follows an
altered-blues form and wears out its welcome before the end. The quirky Spaceport Bar Band Blues also goes on too long.
Kienle in particular is given to wandering solos; the one he takes on the jumpy Chatterbrox is
hardly compatible with the theme.
Herzig's occasional turns on the piano in her basement reveal an
ugly-sounding instrument that fails to make her solos more interesting.
Tenor saxist Tom Clark, while hearty if rather anonymus on his main instrument,
goes bloodless on soprano, as the noodling on Timeless demonstrates.
Inside this corpulent 71-minute disc is a decent slim one dying to get out.
"Indianapolis Intergalactic Spaceport", Reviewed by Indianapolis Star staff writer Jay Harvey
Dr. Monika Herzig and Peter Kienle are once again at the forefront of modern jazz-rock-fusion. This disc demonstrates what the many incarnations of Bloomington’s jazz fusioneers BeebleBrox do best - cross boundaries, blend styles, break rules and have lots of fun doing it. Musicality and imagination are prerequisites to being a part of this musical ensemble, and there’s a lot of each on ‘Spaceport’.
Mark Harris, Indianapolis Jazz Foundation Newsletter Fall 97
BeebleBrox is a quintet primarily guided by pianist Herzig and guitarist
Kienle. It is a band of high energy in the ‘90s tradition, combining
acoustical and electric instruments into a full and large-sounding
ensemble. Most tunes were written by either Herzig or Kienle. All of
them seem to have an upbeat and uplifting feel to them. The compositions
are tightly written but do not seem to get in the way of self expression.
The liner notes give no clue as to the derivation of the group’s
name.
Herzig opts for the keyboards on six of the ten tunes, and switches
to grand piano on the others. As a result the pieces have distinct
characters. At times, four of the five musicians are using the electric
version of their instrument which gives these songs a definite bent
toward foot stomping and head bobbing. It would not be fair to compare
this music to the fusion brand given its improvised vitality, but the
use of electronics causes you to think initially in that direction. Loose Ends comes the closest to being
rock-oriented,
but there is enough
diversity on the disk to dispel that characterization.
Herzig’s grand piano style is melodic and sensitive, She has
a fine feel for the ballad, of which she wrote two on this disk. On Sonic Journey, a guitar duet with Kienle, she
exhibits a commanding and
appealing style. I liked her acoustical playing on the ballad Sherrie's Song as well. The opening Broxology also
displays her fine acoustical touch and leadership ability with a driving
up tempo tune that gives Clark a real chance to stretch out on the
tenor. My favorite tune on the album is Timeless,
featuring Clark on soprano and the acoustical bass of Sturm.
Kienle also has a keen writing style. His compositions can be melodic
and tend to feature the piano rather than his guitar. His playing style
is fairly free and quite supportive of the group effort.
BeebleBrox is a young and energetic group that has a lot of writing
and playing talent. Given more exposure, they should do quite nicely
in their selected music market.
Frank Rubolino, Cadence Magazine, October 97