Monday, April 28, 2008

Jon Regen on the Piano

I've been listening to Jon Regen for a few weeks now, and every time I'd listen I'd scratch my head wondering who he sounded like. Try as I might, I just couldn't place my finger on it. My thought process went something like this: He plays piano. Who else plays piano? Billy Joel. No. Ben Folds. Nope. Elton John. Negative. Tori Amos. Definitely not. Mozart? (at this point I was clearly grasping at straws)

Until, that is, I read Andrew's thoughts on it over at Carry You Away. Of course - Marc Cohn! Good call Andrew. With the name came his big hit Walking In Memphis playing in my mind, and the connection became clear. In terms of style, both men have got that bluesy / jazzy feel to them that carries the tunes. Strong piano playing, both in terms of presence as well as prowess. Going beyond the choice of instruments, vocally they're quite similar as well. It's smooth as well, but not in the Kenny G sort of way.

The album's titled Let It Go. It's out now. Forget Mozart, and listen to the following.




Visit his website and become his friend on MySpace.

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Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis : KBCO Studio C - Volume 10

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Colin Hay

Anonymous said...

I donno, Colin Hay is more of an acoustic guitarist, that I've listened to anyway.

Thanks for the link Sean, glad I was able to help out - I really like this guy, he's got a fantastic sound.

Music Snob said...

Hrmm, Jon Regen. I like his sound because he uses the piano as a percussion instrument. The rhythm becomes the most important part of the music. Nice catch!

BTW: Thanks for the Northampton tip! It's hard to keep track of all of the bands playing in the area.

Jason Silver said...

I agree- love Jon Regen! He's a super nice guy too, it seems.

Shameless Plug: If you are generally into piano music with vocals, please let your listeners/followers know about my music. Similar to Jon Regen, but more like Billy Joel meets Sarah McLachlan... my name is Jason Silver, and my music can be heard at JasonSilver.com

Thanks!
Jason