“Tony Marino’s new album is particularly surprising, combining the retro jazz of the modern New School with the Old School New Orleans of yesteryear, which you no longer hear, together with mesmerizing world music and results in the creation of something completely new that I have never heard before.”
“A special and changing rhythm – sophisticated polyrhythms, such as picturesque melodies, which give you the ability to enter into the story. Tony takes us on a kind of journey into ourselves, with a magical intention that takes you for a moment into his creative world. The joy and sadness, the change in moods, the calmness, and the desire to dance. does not allow you to remain indifferent to his music.”
At every moment and in every song the music is surprising, and fascinating, and remains interesting throughout the song with a rich musical language. Both joy and sadness activate your thought mechanism, challenging you to think about simple emotions in a slightly different way, and from a different perspective.
The transition between the scales in the song unexpectedly and smoothly, and at the end, the safe return home, enhances the feeling of the trip. The modus that he uses, customers from the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America bring you a wide variety of so many flavors, just like a meal of cultures that takes you to different places and different periods in history and the world.
Tony’s technique is amazing, his fingers flow like water on the keyboard, with incredible freedom, and allow him to flow with his creativity without restriction and to use the piano just like a whole band – a feeling of a variety of instruments and roles together. The left-hand runs like the contrabass, and sometimes literally dictates the rhythm like a drummer, and the right-hand combines melodious instruments such as trumpet, saxophone, or even guitar along with accompanying instruments in a variety of harmony. He manages to convey an entire arrangement of a band, with the help of the piano only.
The only thing I’m a little missing is a more stable mix, which can play with the listener in such a sophisticated way as Tony intends to do, such as left and right games, a richer and more variable sound, and essential distortion corrections.
Even on a second listen to the album, I wanted to have more games in my ears. It’s like watching a movie shot in 3D but you saw it in 2D – you understand the poet’s intention, and the movie is excellent and immersive, but the experience has the potential to be much more powerful.
However, it’s a pleasure to experience and get inside Tony’s head a bit. For example, the names of the songs, give me some sort of starting point. A place to start and explore the music from a certain point, which puts me in an intentional listening mode. Such diverse combinations leave you falling in love with the music. He speaks through the piano in such an understandable way, yet so abstract, and touches the listener’s emotional depth.
I think Tony is one of the most talented pianists I’ve heard recently, and I’m sure he’ll win the hearts of the audience with his charm, ability, and innovation.
Isac Caspi is a writer, composer, arranger, producer, sound engineer and specializes in the art of mixing and mastering. He has over 15 years of experience in guitar, recording and teaching professionally and over 10 years of experience in mixing and mastering.
originally published on Vocal.Media