Wine and Strings by Ethan Farmer

Wine and Strings by Ethan Farmer… It is always exciting to get a CD from one of the accomplished Bass musicians that we have interviewed in the recent months… In this instance, I am referring to Ethan Farmer.

“Wine and Strings” is the culmination of the creative efforts of Ethan and his cousin Damien (Dammo). All of the songs were written by this dynamic duo except “Beautiful,” where they had the contribution of Eddie Brown.

In general, this CD packs a serious funk/soul punch. The tunes are very upbeat with the bass in the forefront but they also sport a generous amount of keys and tight drum work. The arrangements are precise and I found myself really looking forward to the next track as soon as a tune finished.

Let’s have a closer look at some of the tracks:

“12” gets the ball rolling with a sweet kind of ascending/descending groove as the foundation. The solid substructure lends itself for Ethan and “Dammo” to cut loose and show their stuff, trading back and forth. The flawless arrangement is impressive; expect lots of synth in this one.

“Yikes” opens up sounding like the soundtrack for a mystery movie then morphs into a slapping funk that will curl your lip. Add in the really tight Regiment Horns section (From Berklee College of Music) and you have got a tune that you can strut to. The changes in tempo are a nice touch but the funk is what really makes this tune.

“Beautiful” gives us a clear idea of the wide range that the keys and programming can do from the first few notes. Ethan adds in his melody and some really nice runs on top of a solid bass layer. (He plays both lead bass and Bass guitar in this tune). Piano and vocals make this cut a stand out.

“Introduction AKA (EBassman)” is basically fun with “Sampling”! A, “Liftoff announcement” sliding into, “I say Bass in your face all over the place” with some distressed sounding woman asking, “Where’s the bass?” and a cheering crowd  blended in sets the tempo for this funky bit; This piece is quite upbeat and entertaining!

All in all, this CD is a lot of fun and I think a lot of people will enjoy it if they give it a chance. As of the time of publication of this article there is only one review on Amazon and the guy didn’t like the CD. I suggest you give it a listen and you be the judge. If you like it, leave your own feedback as I think that it deserves much better marks than he gave it.

Wine and Strings by Ethan Farmer available at Amazon.com

Check it out!

And visit Ethan online at ethan-farmer.com

Note on CD vs Downloadable version… There may be a little mixup with the tracks on the actual CD as the numbers may not match the titles on the CD cover (I may be looking at a advance release version). I checked on Amazon and I think I have them right in my descriptions above. Oh Well… it happens!