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Spiceman SPICEMAN, aka, Karl Wingfield, is a Washington DC born smooth jazz artist, now residing in Atlanta, Ga. He is a composer, arranger, writer and performer. He plays the keyboards, drums and guitar.. He has been performing for over fifteen years. He began playing in the DC area with an R&B band called Imagi, which was comprised of four musicians. SPICEMAN played keyboards and it was during this period that a fellow band member named him SPICEMAN, since he was always "spicing things up". He left the band in 1988 and since that time he has continued to develop his talents in the smooth jazz genre. His has subsequently focused his music towards movie soundtracks, having had one of his compositions featured in an independent short film in 1990. His music has been influenced and inspired by many jazz artists, such as Paul Hardcastle, Joe Sample, Pat Methany and Shack Attack, to name a few. His debut CD is called "The Spice of Life",and features 13 original compositions, that solidify the SPICEMAN's place in the smooth jazz genre. Track 1 is the title track and is a slow tempo groove that has a soft melodic brazilian influence. Track 2 is called "Karl's Brew"and is a mid-tempo groove that showcases the SPICEMAN's guitar skills. Track 3 is called "Midnite Four Play" which is just as the name suggests. Track 4 is "Cuttin the Cheeze", an up-tempo groove that will have you ready to party. Track 5 is "Jerk Chicken" and has a Caribbean flavor. Track 6 is "Tribal Conflict" and has an african ethnic feel. Track 7 is called 'The After Hours Joint" and is an up-tempo groove. Track 8 is "Paradise" and is a soft and melodic composition. Track 9 is called "When Time Stood Still", another soft and smooth groove. Track 10 is "Caribbean Fish Fry" and is a Reggae flavored jam. Track 11 is "Sunrise" a melodic mid tempo groove. Track 12 is "Hot Sauce", which is a bouncy up-tempo groove. Track 13 is "Stirring It Up" an up-tempo groove that will have you wanting more. Selected tracks from the "Spice of Life" CD are available for listening and purchase at Mp3.com. The entire CD can be purchased at Headquarters Records, Inc., by either mail or credit card orders. For a review of this CD, check out earBuzz.com.
Is it sweet or sour, salty or sharp? Taste the album, that Spiceman, aka, Karl Wingfield, is serving. The debut album is called Spice of life. All songs are written, played in and produced by Spiceman. Main instruments of the cds are various sounds of keyboards and overemphasized drum machine samples. So you have to really love these instruments to get an approach to this album. To concentrate on only a few instruments has advantages and shortcomings. Spiceman manages to cut the edge. His music is clear without sounding poor. Starter is the title song "Spice of life". A slow contemplative piece with a nice combinations of guitar and vibraphone sounds. The motif is gingerly recited and transfered in steeldrum-samples. The next song "Karl's Brew" is dominated by a heavy drum-sample followed by a mixed-up of guitar and harmonica-sounds kept in a slow tempo. "Midnight Four" play also starts with another drum-sample enriched with trianglesounds. The guitar plays some spanish variations, fitted with strings sounds. "Cutting the Cheeze" accelerates the beat to a funky dance sound pushed by a furious drum-sample with accents of piccatos of strings and organ. "Jerk Chicken" reveals Spiceman's love to steelpans and reggae-music. "Tribal conflict" bases on a heavy african rhythm garnished with variations of sundry keyboard sounds like flute, strings, guitars and more. "The After Hours Joint" is a quick drumbeat groove with additions of keyboard sounds. "Paradise" slows down the tempo to a melodic bass-driven laidback. "When time stood still" is rhythm-emphasized like most of the tracks with a melodic guitar-part. Another reggae-break is set by "Caribbean Fish Fry". "Sunrise" is another assembly of rhythms with melodic extensions. Hard snaredrum-samples introduce into "Hot sauce" , a melange of rhythms and melodic tunes, where the drums win the run again. The funky tail-light is represented by "Stirring it up" with uptempo horns and organ sounds.
© HBH
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