I just picked up a copy of Jobim’s Bossa Nova’s that Music Minus One publishes. I must say, having a few of the great Flute editions of Music Minus One publications (such as the J.S. Bach B Minor Suite), this work was a real let down…..First, they have some guy named John Sergenian (never heard of him, but he sounds good) play on the music with you on one track, then on another track, they have the backgrounds alone. Thats all good, but I don’t get why the saxophone is only in the right channel. If you have two tracks, essentially one without the saxophone, why didn’t they mix the saxophone stereo? I don’t get it.
The whole package is synthesized. And not very well either. For $29.98, you get a real saxophone play on half the tracks, and only in one ear. Yet, you get poorly synthed flute, trombone and strings in stereo. Why couldn’t they hire some real to play flute? I like the little counterpoint lines, but it’s too “cheezy”. And sometimes the guitar sounds real, but more often than not it comes off like Band in a Box, except Band in a Box’s guitar styles would blow this out of the water.
In all I’d avoid this play-along like the plague. I’d rather watch Anna Nicole Smith for 48 hours straight than waste $29 on this. Actually, I’d rather date Anna Nicole Smith than waste $29 on this play along again. Thats how bad it was. For people interested in a good play along with guitar, I suggest Vol. 93 and Vol. 98 by Aebersold. Both are excellent. For a play-along with strings, Vol. 97. However, I would like to see Jim Snidero do a play-along version of his great new album “Strings”. Playing with strings is a very different endeavor than the traditional rhythm section, and Snidero could really break new ground creating a play-along version.
I’m giving this Music Minus One a 2 out of 10. For maybe half the price I would recommend it. But it’s overpriced, and really not worth it.
Update: 04/21 02:28 GMT by E :I found some other problems with this playalong. There are a lot of notation errors. That really speaks to me of bad quality control. Shame Music Minus One!
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