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I'm sure Steve
Barta rolls his eyes every time he hears his music described as
mellow. Sorry, Steve. In this instance, his soft touch serves up
a jazzy new Christmas record. From the opening Caroling, Caroling
through the first half of the CD, he plays improvisational counterpoint
to Kim Stone's effective jazz bass line. Later on, he relaxes into
his more measured and classical groove, creating a foundation for
the other instrumentalists he has chosen to enrich this latest winter
offering--a string orchestra and flutes, primarily. But whether
jazzing it up (It Looks Like December, for example) or playing bona
fide classics (Ave Maria), his music is accessible and soothing.
Accessible in its ability to be jazzy without all those bitter scales
of interest only to hard core jazzers, and gently soothing, without
ever becoming translucently ambient or cloyingly ethereal.
What Barta does
best is present music with a steady hand, in a manner palatable
to garden variety listeners. It is comfortably straightforward evening
music which has the heart and complexity to work well in the foreground
but whose content and style still has some affinity for the quiet
background.
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