Review and More

Our Review

In Austin, Texas, we have a term, laid back, that we use mainly to describe Austin, Texas. It connotes people who are not necessarily slackers but who are unruffled by the world, people whose lives are in play but who are not so stressed or harried that they spend their time mindlessly scurrying through the rat race, people who have time, often enough, to kick back and watch an outdoor play or listen to some good live music. Gifts, A Christmas Collection, the new holiday record by Rhonda Veis Vulevich, is that kind of laid back. An almost entirely instrumental offering, it is instrumentally sparse, with Ms. Vulevich's laid back saxophone stylings leading the effort throughout. At times jazzy, at other times bluesy, occasionally showing rock-n-roll sensibilities, her mellow riffs are the avocado in this guacamole salad.

The songs are mostly traditional carols with a few pop favorites thrown in for good measure. The lone vocal track contrasted somewhat with the others, with vocalist Steve Thorpe emoting and Matthew James Gartner riffing on blues guitar in a way that recalled Stevie Ray Vaughn, Austin's own fallen son and now patron saint of all that is laid back and good. The addition of Ms. Vulevich's even-tempered tenor sax on this track adds a third element of melancholy to this blues number that does Stevie Ray proud.

This is a record that got better as it went along. After Please Come Home For Christmas, my other favorites were the lovely, sad Silent Night and the paleo-rock-n-roll holiday anthem Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, done in a twine time fashion that Austin DJ and saxophonist Paul Ray would appreciate.

On Gifts, A Christmas Collection,Rhonda Veis Vulevich and her pals don't try to overpower. Instead, their understated licks make a statement of laid back cool. Anyone who loves a good instrumental holiday sound will want to hear Rhonda Veis Vulevich's mellow sax sound this season.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2006)

More

From the liner notes:

Rhonda Leis Vulevich: soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, MIDI electric bass
Kenny Clark: keys (1,2, 6, 7, 14),
Paul Santa Maria: guiter (1, 2, 4, 6)
Rusty Leis: drums (2)
Nathan Thorpe: bass: (2)
Matt Perry: piano (3, 10, 13)
Matthew Gartner: guitar (5)
Michael Scharf: bass (5, 11, 12)
Don Lee: percussion (5, 11, 12)
Rusty Leis: percussion (7, 9)
Steve Thorpe: vocals and guiter (9)
Matthew James Gartner: guitar (11, 12)

Tracks 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, and 13 produced in 1999 at Steve Yates Recording, Morton Grove, IL.
All others recorded in 2005 and 2006 in Palm Bay and Indialantic Florida

Rhonda Leis Vulevich

Gifts,
A Christmas Collection

Artist link

Track List