Listening to jazz music I always expect to be hearing more horns and electric guitar being played with the raspy vocals of a guy singing. What I didn't expect was the bass driven songs being played on Wine & Strings by Ethan Farmer. When I think of jazz I think of music that I listen to when I want to sit in a soft chair while tapping my foot and snapping my fingers at times. Though my knowledge of jazz is limited, I was quite surprised at the structure and the sound of the songs being played by Ethan Farmer on Wine & Strings.
What I liked the most about this CD is the bass being played by Ethan Farmer. I'm a bass person, it's the instrument that I chose to play when I was a teenager, and it's the one that I always pick out first when listening to a song. It's also one of the instruments that don't get as much recgonition as it deserves so when I heard the quick thrumming beats being played in the songs on this album I was impressed. Ethan Farmer might not have the bass rocking out like some musicians that play it but he does make that bass sing while giving these jazz songs a different sound. He plays the bass where it is the main instrument being heard in the songs while also making it has more than 3 notes being played.
Wine & Strings is a jazz album that also has funk in the sound. There's a lot of energy being put into the songs that make them fun to listen to while sounding really good. Though it is the funk that these songs have that I liked the most, aside from the bass that is. There's not as much vocals in the songs as I thought there would be but the vocals that are there are performed well. Ethan Farmer not only has a ear for playing a good bass but he also can put the funk in his voice.