NJ Reviews 2/25/2006
From the opening strum to the final note, Tumulty’s Pub in New Brunswick was home to a night of original music, raucous covers and some of the more innovativeacoustic music to be heard in these environs in quite a long time. . When Laurence Hart took the stage to debut material from his forthcoming CD last Saturday night, it was with a sense of anticipation and one of familiarity.
“Its been a long time coming, I’ve been working on these songs for almost a year, and its been almost a decade since I’ve played originals in New Brunswick, while tonight is breaking new ground, it is also a one of homecoming”
Its been over a decade since Laurence’s former band, Casaluna, regularly prowled the haunts of New York, the Jersey Shore and of course New Brunswick. Casaluna’s blend of hot lick leads, infectious grooves and dream laced lyrics was a forerunner of many of today’s popular bands, who never hit the pitch perfect mix of Casaluna. With a great deal of history, the crowd was treated to a vision of the future.
With brother Bob Hart, bass player for Spiraling/former Casaluna guitarist, launched into the opening song of the CD “Vault” with a driving hardcore strumming style and a interwining beautiful lead lines that set the tone and foreshadowed the different musical styles that would be weaved into an hourlong tapestry of introspection, aspirations and inspiration. The uplifting themes of “This Ride”, the rocking grooves of “Want Her Too”, the Beatle-esque “Close Station Platform” and the haunting, eerie beauty of “Still Flows” were some of the highlights of the fast moving, powerpacked set. Sprinkled throughout were part of Laurence’s unique concept for his latest CD titled “Fragments”(available May 15 th ) which is to have smaller bits and pieces of songs that have been purposefully kept to a short length which is where the title for the upcoming disc came from.
“Sometimes a song is stretched to fit into standard formats because that is what people are taught to expect and that just doesn’t fit my organic way of viewing song creation. Songs should be allowed to take as long or short as they want to, and not just in live performances, but also in the studio. With many of the Fragments I’ve created, they may only express a single idea, emotion or concept and it may be brief but that’s how they came to me, this is what I want them to say and how I brought them to life. In a way I view music as one would poetry, in which a poem can be 10 words long and deliver a emotional or imagistic punch that knocks you off your feet, leave your body shivering or it can be a 100 pages long, taking you through a whole range of thoughts and feeelings on journeys of immense proportions. The same is true with music, whether only a one minute raver or an hourlong composition the goal is what type of journey do you want to take someone on and then how to get them there, in style of course.(laughs)”
After the opening set of the new batch of songs from Fragments, Laurence and Bob walked back in time to play three songs from Casaluna’s first album that brought a smile to faces of the crowd. “What Is It To You?”, “Alone” and “You” were a treat to hear in an acoustic format and were just as jammed-out as the last time they graced these stomping grounds. To put a finehoned polish to the night, Laurence dug into his seemingly infinite bag of cover songs to the delight of the hooting and hollering crowd, touching on the eclectic sources of much of his inspiration. “Genesis” by Hot Tuna juxtaposed nicely with Prince’s “Starfish and Coffee”, while audience members kept failing to stump him as he ran through a hot version of Springsteen’s “Saint in the City”, a spot on rendition of “Fearless” by Pink Floyd and kicking version of “Freaker By The Speaker” from Keller Williams all upon request! It made you feel as if any song from the past thirty years could have been yelled out and played.
“I’ve always prided myself on listening to and being able to play any style of music from across the specturm, and it’s always a blast for someone in the crowd say ‘Hey play this’, and just be able to go right into it and let them hear a great version of a song they have loved for 20 years, its one of those moments when you can connect to an individual on that very personal level, that is what playing music is all about, that’s the reward, the real payoff.”
Mingling in the audience afterwards, the reviews were very positive on both the new and the old.
“Hearing the differences in the way the music has grown and changed was incredible. In the past it was about energy and now you can hear that mixed with maturity and paitence, especially in the way Laurence delivers his vocals. I loved it!”
“Laurence has always been among my favorites because musically he is so in tuned with what I like, especialy in that among the few cover songs, 3 of them were in my Top 5 All Time. That just doesn’t happen with anyone else”
“The last time I heard those Casaluna songs, I was a lot younger with a LOT more hair, but it took me right back to those days, heck lets stay up til 4(am) like we use to to!”
