 |
 |
||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
||
Symbiotica "Hear Me" is a rich fusion number that serves to introduce Leah's lead vocal range and power, alternating left to right and back again between the speakers,
further vocalise and lush backing vocals. A rapidfire guitar solo also adorns the track. The album continues with "Ceilings," a lush fusion number with Leah's lead vocal soaring above vast guitar excursions
that immediately illustrate Joe's virtousity on the instrument. "You Just Take" begins with powerful jazzy electric guitar riffs before Leah's venomous lead vocal enters the fray. While guitar and bass solos
continue to explore the jazz fusion regime, the vocal work in "Leave A Light On" is somewhat more traditional, Leah's evocative lead vocal climbing to the edge of her range with tremendous power while further
harmony layers underscore the theme in the memorable chorus. "One And Trip" continues to build the jazz fusion edge of the album. Leah's lead and alternating harmony vocal contrast each other and also the
superbly played electrifying guitar solos that have been built into the arrangement. "Mold" is a more challenging number that is full of guitar and bass riffs that are complimented by several layers of vocals.
The most accessible track on the album is "Winter On The Sun." The verses are clearly rooted in jazz fusion and delivered with conviction and style but are contrasted by brief lushly arranged choruses and
soaring vocal passages throughout the number. Guitar and bass riffs don't leave the arrangement for long and are further featured in stunning excursions during in the song's midsection. We continue to explore Leah's
emotional vocal delivery and Joe's rapidfire guitar playing in the track "Here In My Head" that concludes the album. Symbiotica
is not the most accessible album of the group's lot, but repeated listens will reveal the artists' musical underpinning and tremendous virtuousity. It's clear why they turned heads with the album in 1995. The album provides a great introduction to Leah's stunning vocal work. If for no other reason, listen to the album to appreciate her extensive range and tremendous power.
Garden The band's signature number "Elijah" begins includes a brief vocalise introduction (that also appears as a hidden reprise in the album's final track) and then opens into a glorious
piano-backed ballad that explores Leah's full vocal range, demonstrates significant maturity from the band's first release and features one of her most emotional deliveries. Further instrumentation, a lovely guitar solo
and tender backing harmonies add great texture to the number. It is no wonder that the band elected to offer a new and improved arrangement on their self-titled album four years later. The standout tracks
"Superflous Illumination" is a song-based progressive rock numbers that alternates style and tempo between a jazz fusion based verse and a memorably rocking chorus. Vast guitar and powerfully complementing
vocal excursions seem to echo each other and add further depth to the arrangement. Sung across Leah's vast range, "Cover Me" is a bluesy yet melodic track; the power comes in the thickly arranged chorus with
instrumentals and harmony layers blending energetically and in the guitar riffs between them. Leah's stunning and evocatively delivered vocals are mixed way up in the extended ballad "Bell On The Wall."
Ample instrumental breaks during the gaps between verses give the singer an opportunity to build tension as the song develops and release it in each chorus. Leah's dramatic vocal performance is simply superb.
"Dis-co" is an upbeat number rooted in jazz fusion but is more song-based. Layers of vocals are complemented by rhythmic arrangements. "Level One" is a progressive rock number. The powerful
electric guitar solo during the song's midsection further demonstrate Joe's tremendous virtuousity with the instrument. The evocative ballad "Emotion" mates perfectly to "Level One" with harmony
vocals and thick bass adding a lush texture to the arrangement. Leah's vocals climb in power and soar well above the instrumentals and backing harmonies as the track progresses towards its dramatic conclusion. The
song-based style of "Constant Hum" makes it instantly appealing to a broad audience. We especially liked the mid-song instrumental and the jazzy improvisation that returns one more time as the song finishes.
The album concludes with a downtempo track called "Surreal." Layers of harmony vocals and dynamically varied instrumentals, especially during the song's extended mid-section, complement Leah's powerful lead. A
reprise of the "Elijah" introduction returns after a gap to conclude the track. Garden represents a turning point for Cosmic Stepping Stones. As such, with its broad range of
styles and textures, it has become John Caruso's favorite album by the band. Others will find it a great introduction to what CSS have yet to offer in their self-titled album reviewed below. Cosmic Stepping Stones The substantial improvement in vocal
production over the earlier releases is evident from first spin. Leah's lead and harmony vocal arrangements are particularly well imaged. Listeners will find themselves in the recording booth with her. Production of the
instrumentals, especially bass guitar, has been warmly enhanced as well. The album opens with the upbeat rocker "Mediocrity." Leah's powerful and wide ranging vocals jump off the track and the chorus will
stun the listener immediately. Great guitar playing and lush backing harmonies add to the accessibility of the track. Vocalise that wraps up the song is simply spine-tingling. "Weatherman," clearly one of
the album's standouts, has gotten lots of air time since the initial release of the album. Rich electric guitar and bass provide the foundation for Leah's tenderly delivered verse and instrumentals build with layers of
harmony vocals in the highly memorable chorus. Equally enjoyable is the memorable rearrangement of "Winter On The Sun" (from Symbiotica). Leah's lead vocal is supported by lush piano- and guitar-based
rock instrumentals and underscored by her own light vocal harmonies. The powerful rhythm section--especially the lush bass guitar--in "Graceful" is especially notable. It blends well with Joe's funky guitar
excursions and provides a great foundation for Leah's vocals, delivered with incredible conviction and further supported with light backing harmonies. The new version of "Elijah" has been produced with more
harmony layers and an especially rich rhythm section building on "Graceful." Leah's delivery of the lead vocal is more emotionally wrenching than the original version. Instrumentals are more clearly
articulated with percussion clearly punctuating every note in the piece. Another album standout is the progressive rock number "Somewhere To Fall." While the verses are superb, the production of the two-part
tempo-changing chorus is spine-tingling, the lead vocal powerfully exploring Leah's vast vocal range. A lovely guitar solo graces the song's mid-section. The final multi-layered chorus clearly illustrates the
development of the band since their previous album. The upbeat rock number "Inside Out," with its crunching electric guitar parts, continues to develop the album's sound and demonstrates the high production
quality of this recording. The many harmony layers of vocals in "Circles" define the track. The upbeat and highly accessible rocker "Blame" joins "Weatherman" and "Somewhere To
Fall" as an album standout. Led by electric guitar and powerful bass, Leah's lead and the lushest of harmony vocals on the album work together to produce a track with a tremendous hook. During the song's
mid-section the instrumentals are dropped way back and Leah's vocals take over atop bass only. The guitar returns at the end working with vocals to deliver a great climax. "Wake Me Up" is a great bookend to
"Blame" with bass continuing to carry the rhythm and layers of Leah's vocals producing a straight up rocker. The lush guitar arrangement certain to delight listeners. The combination of guitar and bass in
"Bond" continue to build the CSS sound from "Blame." Leah delivers the lead vocal with tremendous power; her harmony layers add great texture to this powerful rocker. Guitar and bass parts as well as
soaring vocalise during the song's mid-section adds intensity to the number. The down tempo "Laughter" offers a somewhat starker, but equally strong, vocal arrangement than the album's standup rockers. Lush
harmonies and extendedguitar riffs provide ample contrast within the number. The album concludes with the funky track "Feel Better." Rhythmic bass and percussion underscore layers of Leah's soaring vocals and
Joe's electric guitar excursions. It is no wonder that Cosmic Stepping Stones
has received critical acclaim from the music press. The album demonstrates significant growth of the artists, especially in guitar and bass arrangements, from their earliest beginnings and continues to illustrate the power and range of Leah Pinnavaia's vocal skills. It is truly a superb album. We can't wait to see what the band have in store for the next one!
New Music Weekly, August 2003, The Best of Western New York.com as of 5/28/03 Cosmic Stepping Stones, the brother and sister team of Leah and Joe Pinnavaia explores their
broad musical tastes on their new self-titled release. The thirteen song CD features the talents of Leah on vocals and keyboards, brother Joe on guitar, Kirk Beers on drums Matt Castronova on bass, Dan Janek on guitar
with additional help from Jessika Schreiber on vocals and Jim Wynne on bass and keys. The CD mixes alternative and AOR (adult orientated rock) format sounds with an under current of jazz sprinkled throughout, most
notably through the guitar playing of Joe Pinnavaia.
Self Titled 'Cosmic Stepping Stones' CD Reviews: Gusto, The Buffalo News Cosmic Stepping Stones ia a name that hasn't been heard around town for a while. That's because the award winning ethreal rock act was busy working on material captured on its new self titled release. Believe me, it's been worth the wait. The 13 tracks on the vocally driven album keep the attention where it should-on Leah Pinnavaia's dulcet 7 ˝ octave vocal range. The eclectic rock backdrop heard against her lovely vocals is smooth, sometimes jazzy and always sonically pleasant. Joining Pinnavaia are her brother, Joseph Pinnavaia, on guitar along with guitarist Dan Janak, Drummer Kirk Beers, and bassist Matt Castronava. The Cosmic Stepping Stones CD release concert
is at 7:30pm tonight in the Tralf Cosmic Stepping Stones (CSS) have made one of the most beautiful melodic recordings I've heard in a long time, national or local. The guitar, bass and drums compliment and play off of each other. The vocals are absolutely incredible. A female that's not growling or whining, imagine that! CSS is (on the CD): Leah Pinnavaia, Joseph Pinnavaia, Kirk Beers, Dan Janak and Matt Castronova sounds as if they should be on a national level, considering their release sounds better than over half of the music you hear on the radio. With passionate music and vocals that delve from intricate guitar and bass work, to an easy laid back style, every song on this 13-song release is different and better than the previous. A bit of a country twang added to the guitar on "Weatherman" takes their music to a drastically different place than say "Winter on the Sun," which has a groove to it, with jazzier drums and keys, ad smooth vocals wrapping around the guitar. "Elijha" has a great drum beat which leads the way into wispy vocals that fade in and out and guitar that picks up the pace on the chorus. "Circles" has yet another musical twist, distorted guitar and a certain degree of bitterness added to the vocals gives it a bit more of a rock edge. CSS offer up a new flair to the female vocal band. Pinnavaia has strong, powerful yet melodic and smooth vocals, and the music isn't pushed into the background to make the vocals stand out more. The musicians on this album are so incredibly talented that I keep thinking that I'm listening to a national band. If you like music that makes you think, but is easy to enjoy then this is for you. I would liken them to Dahmnait Doyle, or Aimee Mann, but they are definitely not a distinct copy of these artists, just in the same category.
Best of WNY.com |
||||||
|
||||||
