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Artist: LWE
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Type: Audio CD [ View other products of this type ]
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Formed in 2000, keyboadist Frank Lucas (Neil Zaza, Michael Angelo), drummer Chuck White (Michael Angelo, Ion Vein) and bassist Steve Edsey (Dave Uhrich, Jeff Vincent), have been tearing it up in the Chicagoland area to captive audiences. Certainly, a studio recording was inevitable. The band makes no apologies for not bowing to trends on their debut album.
The music of Lucas, White & Edsey, composed by Lucas, centers around the keyboard hero’s stellar technique and lightning quick finger strokes. If you make comparisons to Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, you are not mistaken. Over the last 12 years, Lucas has studied with the maestro at his studio in upstate New York. Backed by one of the best rhythm sections a prog rock band could ask for, Chuck White (drums and percussion) and Steve Edsey (bass) impress not only with great musicianship, navigating through many metrical minefields but some of the catchiest melodies. Edger Gabriel, a principal violinist for Cirque de Soleil guests on violin on 3 tracks.
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Audio samples:
 01. Liberty
02. Sleight of Hand and Foot
03. A Note to Jordan
04. Hasta Manana
05. Waiting for Bela
06. The Nightcap
07. A Dog and His Boy
08. The Good Life
Album reviews:
...This CD is a leading example of ability to join melodic and mild tones with virtuosity in such a way that none of these elements tire the listener. The project LWE administers us the music in the spirit of Keith Emerson and Jordan Rudess, but it should be also enjoyed by fanciers of Rick and Oliver Wakemans' solo works. Some influences from Jordan Rudess' music aren't accidental, since Frank has learned in aforementioned keyboard player's recording studio for twelve years, and it is to Mr. Lucas' credit with certainty!
Read full story at http://www.hmpmag.pl/dovmag/virtuosity070527-lwe-lucas_white_and_edsey-2006
German review
Read full story at http://www.metal-inside.de/frame.php?url=http://www.metal-inside.de/review.php?id=7708
German review
Read full story at http://www.rocktimes.de/gesamt/l/lucas_white_edsey/lwe.html
...The highlight of the record is opening track "Liberty", which starts with a children's chorus reciting the pledge of allegiance, followed by an upbeat, major-key piece that appears to be celebrating liberty - with a conclusion featuring a march with snare drums and a (synthesized) fife. We say it 'appears' to be celebrating liberty because the CD is all instrumental. Track 1 is the most classically-oriented piece on the record, with the remaining 7 tracks falling into a not semi-progressive lounge-jazz style that will challenge no one, but might find broad appeal among those looking for intelligent yet relaxing music.
When you come home from work - pull on your favorite slippers, and recline in that La-Z-boy with a good scotch - and spin LWE. It's that kind of music.
Read full story at http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=4112
...A song like “Liberty” may sound like a patriotic sermon at first, yet it is this apparent naivety that gives way to the record’s undoubted charm. Admittedly, the music isn’t completely freed from kitchen clichés (the obligate soloing, of course), but that is more than compensated by the very fine, catchy playing. The latter is particularly accounted for in “A Note to Jordan”: it is prime composer Frank Lucas’s salute to his discoverer and training master, Jordan Rudess. So, yes, there are enough inversed rhythms and fast keyboard play on this cheerful album to keep our demanding teeth happy.
Read full story at http://www.prog-nose.org/engels/albums_2006/lwe_lwe.htm
...The eight instrumental compositions, while touching different, at times opposite directions, are all brimming with the musicians' enthusiasm for what they do, though it's certainly Frank Lucas who is the main moving force in this action, shining with mastery and inventiveness everywhere he plays first fiddle in the field of soloing, which to be sure, he does almost everywhere on the recording. To clarify the meaning of "almost", I should note that Liberty, Hasta Manana and Waiting for Bela each features a magnificent piano-laden Classical interlude, in which Lucas shares the lead with the guest violin player Edger Gabriel. Steve Edsey's bass episodically comes to the fore on most of the jazz-inflected pieces (which are also notable for syncopated movements by the entire trio), and two of these, Sleight of Hand & Foot and The Nightcap, have moments that find him improvising exclusively to Chuck White's drumming. The most impressive thing the group displays in the department of their joint performance is their ability to subtly slacken and accelerate their pace, which is brightly evinced on the opening composition Liberty for instance, though their respectful attitude towards odd meters shouldn't be overlooked either...
Read full story at http://www.progressor.net/review/lwe_2006.html
...Pre-release comparisons to Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the Chick Corea Electrik Band might have been overstated. This music is less pretentious (although no less dramatic) than ELP’s work, and it lacks the blatant fusion references of Corea’s late-1980s/early-1990s outfit. Instead, listeners get a steady 54-minute stream of clever, quippy and wholly engrossing music that includes the marvelous, bouncy opener “Liberty," the beachcomber anthem “Hasta Mañana” and “The Nightcap,” an uncharacteristically dark, mysterious and sexy piece. LWE milks its cleverness with songs whose titles reference the Chicagoland trio’s influences: “A Note to Jordan” (as in Dream Theater keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess) and “Waiting for Bela” (as in premier banjo player Bela Fleck).
Read full story at http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=4112
Italian review
Read full story at http://www.extramusic.it/disco/novitadiscografiche341.htm
French review
Read full story at http://www.musicinbelgium.net/pl/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=1495
...Yes, you can tell that there is some major traditional/classical training behind keyboardist Frank Lucas’ playing, and along with drummer Chuck White, and bassist Steve Edsey, they create a jazzy/new age textured melodic force. There are no guitars, which makes the record lack the heaviness, but that does not seem to be the point of what LWE was trying to do, but they did what they set out to do musically. Particularly with tracks such as “Liberty,” the Celtic influenced “Waiting for Bela,” and “ the mellow balladry of “A Dog and His Boy,” the record shows a different side to piano jazz (with synths here and there), it’s a little more interesting than what some might play, but, of course it is an acquired taste...
Read full story at http://www.ytsejam.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=1016
Italian review
Read full story at http://www.hardsounds.it/PUBLIC/recensione.php?id=2520
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To make purchasing even easier, we've implemented a method of discounting to save you even more money.
The discounts are based on number of products purchased in a single purchasing session.
The discounts break down as shown in the table below.
All shipments will include a $1.75 handling charge.
| Items |
Discount |
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15% |
| 10 or more |
20% |
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