MICHAEL KAESHAMMER - "Tell You How I Feel" (Alma)
From Music Den
This young Canadian from Vancouver knows how to rock the piano. Only his
second album he shows the old cats how to swing. The nice thing is that he
does it a variety of ways. Old traditional tunes such as "John Brown's
Body", a little more modern with Duke's "Caravan", and even an old Hank
classic "Move It On Over". The originals on here stand up as well. A
Canadian force to be reckoned with.
Music Den Reviews
THE VANCOUVER SUN
MICHAEL KAESHAMMER - "Tell You How I Feel" ****
Victoria boy Michael Kaeshammer is one of our province's natural wonders.
Still only in his early 20s, he plays piano like someone who has spent a
long life in juke joints and jump-bars. He practises the near-loast art of
boogie woogie with a rock-steady left hand and a furiously busy right.
Kaeshammer's new CD, his second, has him doing what he does best - boogie
woogie - as well as blues and jive. He surrounds himself with Toronto
musicians like trumpeter Guido Basso, saxophonist Phil Dwyer, and bassist
Paul Keller, but the boys in the band have enough sense to step back and
let the leader dive into the keyboard in long, solo-piano stretches.
He hits the stride (you'll have to forgive the pun) on tracks like "Move it
On Over", "Jivin' with Dal", and "Sweet Georgia Brown", the latter tune
doubling its tempo as it goes. Kaeshammer shows a deft blues touch on
"Basin Street Blues" and "I'll Always Love You".
-Marke Andrews
"TIMES COLONIST"
MICHAEL KAESHAMMER
Tell You How I Feel
The masterful followup to Kaeshammer's 1996 solo piano CD debut,
Blue Keys, is a surprisingly eclectic offering that ranges from
swing to bebop. He even reinvents a revved-up rendition of Hank
Williams' country classic, Move It On Over. Still in his early 20s,
Kaeshammer has soaked up a variety of musical experiences, and the
results are in evidence on new CD. It showcases his skills not only
as a flashy, frenetic, keyboard-busting improviser but as a skillful
arranger and bandleader. "Tell You How I Feel" has a polished,
well-crafted sound and features Diana Krall's bassist Paul Keller
and Canadian jazz greats like Guido Basso, Joe Sealy, Doug Riley,
Kevin Breit, Phil Dwyer, and up-and-coming, young vocalist Carol Welsman.
It's a gem!
-Joseph Blake
"MONDAY MAGAZINE"
MICHAEL KAESHAMMER
Tell You How I Feel
If there really is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back
in my next life as Michael Kaeshammer's fingers. Seriously. Listening
to them on "Tell You How I Feel", the sophomore CD from the locally
based boogie woogie pianist, I can't help but think that those 10 soldiers
of his have more fun than any human appendage has a right to - kicking up
their knuckles on jaunty new arrangements of standards like "Sunny Side
of the Street" and "John Brown's Body" and several hyperdexterous orignials.
A recording that adds fresh meaning to the phrase "digitally mastered".
-David Leach
