Review written in 2006.
JAZ KING – Changing Gears (2006)
How refreshing it is to purchase a CD in this day and age that doesn’t say “ProTools by…” in the liner notes. That’s the kind of CD that Changing Gears, by newcomer Jaz King, is. It’s earthy without being too rough. Miss King is a young Canadian singer/songwriter who’s been writing her own material for over half a decade. It’s easy to be cynical in these days of Canadian Idol, and think that any young female coming out can’t write or play her own instruments. Contrary to the norm, King sings, writes, and plays guitar and piano. She’s backed by Steve Foley on guitar and drums, and Jon Van Wingerden on bass.
On first listen it would be easy to lump King in with the likes of early Jewel or Dayna Manning. However, her voice is more breathy, more human. Dare I say it; it’s darker. The occasional high note does remind us Dayna Manning, but King’s material is not nearly as pop. Whereas most mainstream artists overpolish their music in the studio, King has wisely left the arrangements to the basics performed by herself and her studio band. The acoustic guitar parts are lush, reminding us of Jim Cuddy. There is some nice electric guitar as well, the parts on “Close Your Eyes” reminding us of Ty Tabor. During the intro to “Southbound” there’s some nice soft electric guitar that you can only get from a tube amp and it sounds perfectly appropriate. The drum parts courtesy of Steve Foley fill in all the gaps, providing enough interesting fills without being overpowering. Background vocals (uncredited) are complimentary and don’t cramp the mix. Unfortunately the bass is mixed a little too low, which is sad as it’s the kind of dexterous playing that this reviewer loves. If it only it were cranked a little higher. Care to do a remix for us, Miss King?
King’s songwriting is definitely above average, demonstrating her years of working on her craft. Her melodies are memorable and original. Where she really shines, however, is in her lyrics. “October” is sweet, dark, bitter and bright all at once. This is something that some songwriters take years to achieve, but King has arrived on the scene as a fully developed lyricist.
The best track, without a doubt, is “All I Have”, which she wisely left for last. Featuring King alone on piano and vocals, it stands out from the other tracks, but ends abruptly. Whether she did this knowing the listening would wish the album wasn’t over yet isn’t clear, but it was a wise move. Too many bands make the mistake of putting too much material on their debuts. This tires out the listener, but King leaves them wanting more. A very clever move. Intentional? Perhaps, or maybe that’s just the way the song sounded in her head. Or both.
Clocking in at 35 minutes, Changing Gears gives you better value for the money than the average Weezer album. Let’s not forget that in the storied old days of vinyl (remember vinyl?) 35 minutes represented a long album. These nine tracks don’t overstay their welcome, though it would’ve be nice to hear King and her band do a nice bright fast one. The packaging is extremely pro, a nice white & blue digipack. All the photos inside and out follow an automobile motif (Changing Gears, get it?) and this follows through to the stickshift design on the disc itself. There is a full colour four page booklet, which unfortunately suffers from the kind of pixilation you get from a bubblejet printer. Because of this it’s hard to read the handwritten lyrics inside, which is tragic.
The great thing about a debut album like this is that usually it only hints at what the artist is capable of. In the future, King should be able to carve out her own identity. She has the necessary playing skills and songwriting ability to grow with each release. An artist like this would benefit from a University tour, giving her a chance to build a national fanbase and her chops at the same time. Let’s hope Jaz King gets that chance.
4/5 stars
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