Jon and Lynn LP review


Jon and Lynn, the Bass and Vocal from New York, who have featured heavily in the indie bands blog charts over the recent months, took the step of releasing an eponymous LP recently. When I received the CD a week ago, I wondered whether the stripped back bass and vocal could be sustained over anĀ  LP. The short answer is, shame it is only an 16 track LP.

Jon and lynn

Jon and lynn

With a running time of just over 50 minutes, Jon and Lynn create a triumphant release with their minimalist instrumentation and soaring vocal.

Opening with Never My Love which sets the scene for the LP. Jon Burr brings out some very strong sounds from the Bass, testing the extremities of each end of the scale, while Lynn Stein adds a sultry and smokey vocal.

Can’t Take my Eyes off of you is a superb composition and a highly challenging piece to tackle, yet the duo manage to create the sway and rhythm at the heart of the song. Lynn is able to showcase her vocal and takes complete control of the track, as Jon frames her voice with a sympathetic pitch.

Until similarly captures the swing effectively, which really shouldn’t be possible with just a bass to support the voice. Jon manages to pack in an unbelievable number of heavy notes to the track, (my fingers have numbed in sympathy), while Lynn’s voice seems to float away on a harp, keeping a great tempo to the piece.

On How Can I Be Sure, Jon begins the piece with a bow, which sets a completely new atmosphere to the piece, before picking the strings again as the song begins to gain tempo, with Jon reverting back to bow for the final chords.

Burr’s own composition Last Road To Home, sees the duo in superb syncopation, with some great connection between the two of them.

Folks on the Hill, finds Lynn putting on a virtuoso performance as the duo manage to bring real sentiment and soul to the track.

Downtown, what can I say apart from, how does Jon manage to handle the bass as fast as he does? Superb musicianship and vocal see the duo really soar in to a fine space.

The penultimate track The Best Thing for You, finds the duo in a playful mood and we even find an extended bass solo. A great, fun and tight track.

The final track When I talk to you, another Jon Burr composition, once again finds Lynn Stein giving room for her voice to soar and dive, like a bird swooping over a field.

Jon and Lynn is a well crafted release, which enables the duo to showcase their breadth of musical influence and it is very easy to feel that there must have been a full orchestra involved somewhere along the line.

The duo work well as the pitch of Lynn’s vocal is cleverly counter-balanced by the weight of the bass, generating an LP which has some real legs to it and is far more than a concept release.

The release is available as a download from Amazon Jon And Lynn*
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