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mo*sa*ic NOUN: A composite picture made of overlapping, usually aerial, photographs. Mosaic, the instrumental group that dazzled audiences in the greater Los Angeles area throughout the late Eighties and early Nineties, was the natural progression of the jam band which consisted of drummer Joel Alpers, guitarist Chris Clermont, keyboardist Justin Reinhardt and bassist Colin Wolfe. Anyone hearing this group of virtual newcomers to LA's waning but still vital music scene knew that something special was brewing. At the time the group liked to refer to their brand of fusing hiphop, jazz, rock, and R&B, with rhythms from Africa, India, South America and the Middle East, as eclectic world beat jazz. Jazz has and always will be about fusion and expansion of divergent sounds. The group, which was equally influenced by bands like Weather Report, Yellowjackets, the Pat Metheny Group, and Tribal Tech as Led Zeppelin, Yes, Genesis, and Sting, decided to place emphasis on composition rather than the instrumental pyrotechnics that mark other bands from this era. Their group compositional style quickly developed led by keyboardist Reinhardt, who is very busy writing movie scores these days. One of the finest examples on this disc is "Evolution," which takes the listener on an unforgettable sonic journey which seems to tell the story of homo sapien sapien musically. Other highlights on this CD are "The Ambassador," "A Kindred Spirit," "Calm," "Never Like Now," and the latin-flavored "Joao." After some personnel changes, the lineup solidified with the addition of reed player Katisse Buckingham and the nineteen year old wunderkind Marc Ebermann on bass from Germany. Another amazing feature of this group was their relative youth. At the time of the recording of this CD, the oldest musician was only 25! By the beginning of the Nineties, Mosaic, which recently changed it's name to Never Like Now to avoid confusion with other groups, was at the center of a tug of war between MCA/Motown's new imprint MoJazz, the PolyGram revived Verve label, and an upstart UK-based indie called Acid Jazz. The group eventually signed with Verve. Now, finally, this remarkable self produced debut CD is available. Guests on this record include Luis Conte [percussion] and Tony Lujan [trumpet]. Engineered by Alan Hirshberg, Chuck Sparks, Dennis Moody, and Jared Held. Mixed by Alan Hirshberg. Mastered by Eddie Schreyer at Future Disc. Visit the band @ http://www.myspace.com/4neverlikenow today! Check out the artist's website: http://www.myspace.com/4neverlikenow Track List: 1. The Ambassador 2. Never Like Now 3. Evolution 4. Calm 5. Joao 6. Before You Know It 7. Perspective 8. Language Barrier 9. A Kindred Spirit Other Genres:
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