Gabe Dixon

Red Tunic Troll

posted on Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:39:10

Fine 1970s-inflected piano singer-songwriter pop

Dixon has been compared to singer-songwriters Ben Folds, Billy Joel and Elton John, and though he's likewise a pianist, his songs are more often wistful in the vein of Jackson Brown or Paul Simon. There's a soulful grandeur to his playing and singing, with funky elements as on Elton John's albums from the first-half of the 1970s; he lopes along on the New Orleans-styled second-line rhythm of "Till You're Gone" and takes on gospel-influences for "Find My Way." Dixon's classical training and the group's improvisational background can be heard in the quality of the arrangements and the solidarity of the playing (mostly recorded live-in-the-studio), but having pared themselves to a trio, the songs are now carefully honed to three- and four-minute pop pieces that forsake the overt jazz influences heard on the group's 2002 release, "On a Rolling Ball."

Like the best piano-led bands, the absence of guitar here is hardly noticeable. Dixon's playing has such a rich sound, that backed by bass and drums, its many octaves and sympathetic overtones fill the sonic palette. Dixon's voice lies complementarily on the lower notes of his piano playing, and on mid-tempo numbers such as the imagery-driven "All Will Be Well," his voice rings with the purity of Paul Simon. Though you'd be hard-pressed to label this band as Americana, their Nashville residence (Dixon's hometown, to which he returned after several years in New York) lends these songs an earnestness that winningly supports lyrics of love that's alternately new, sustained, broken and longed for. Dixon's equally convincing singing the first-person story of a return home on "Five More Hours" as he is detailing another's nearly suicidal loss on "And the World Turned."

Though Dixon's vocals provide a line of continuity from the band's earlier works, their new-found focus on concise songwriting and arranging provides a powerful multiplier to their performing. Dixon's voice fits beautifully into the songs, his piano playing is stirring on both the upbeat numbers and ballads, and the rhythm section provides fitting accompaniment rather than demonstrating their chops. The result is lively and engaging on both an intellectual and emotional level and a big step forward for this fine trio. [©2008 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]