Music magic made again
POSTED: Friday, September 18, 2009
'The Al Pascua Project'
The Al Pascua Project
(Globe Trotta)
Hawaii jazz fans of a certain age remember keyboardist Al Pascua as a member of Music Magic and a pioneer of the jazz-fusion movement here in the early '80s.
If the Hoku Awards had a Jazz Album category in place back then, the quartet—Pascua, Jay Molina, Fred Schreuders and Darryl Blouin—could easily have won the category with “;One Man Lady”; in 1982. From that high point, time passed, pop market music tastes changed and the quartet dispersed to pursue individual projects.
Pascua now picks up almost where he left off with this collection of six original jazz-fusion instrumentals written in the years since the old group disbanded. The sound is similar but more compact—Music Magic had extra musicians backing them on every track, but this quartet is self-contained. The old group emphasized lyrics; this one shuns them.
The album's packaging includes a “;making of”; DVD with information on Pascua, his music and his production team. The CD is also available for digital download via iTunes; e-mail Pascua at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to order physical copies.
