Partovi, Ramin: 27 Faces Of A Broken Heart

With literally thousands of albums released each year, coming across something that is at least trying to offer up a change of beat is always a pleasure and an intention that has to be applauded. With 27 Faces Of A Broken Heart, airline pilot - although that’s not the guitarist’s chosen instrument here you’ll be glad to know - Ramin Partovi has sought out the skills of 24 different musicians to reinterpret the same, one piece of music. With Partovi himself and Brent Mason offering up two different takes, we are, of course, provided 27 tracks across two discs as this journey unfolds. Helping Partovi lay down the base tracks - not all the backing music is exactly the same - is uber-drummer Simon Phillips, bassist Jimmy Johnson and guitarist Carl Verheyen, who also provides one of the interpretations.

With only one take on the track providing vocals (courtesy of Masta Edwards), what in essence we’re left with is a guitar instrumental album with a variety of six-stringers moving from blues to jazz and from hard rock to shred over what is, essentially, the same piece of music. Alongside Verheyen there are names such as Oz Noy and Doug Rappaport in attendance, so while most of the players are pretty much unfamiliar to me, some do come with an impressive pedigree. The fatal flaw however is that whether Yussi Wenger adds a more mystical air to proceedings, or Scott Henderson a more bluesy edge, the core piece of music is, well, pretty uneventful. Therefore no matter how much heart, soul and warmth Ernesto Homeyer brings to the album, or how expertly Mark Lettieri lends a Spanish air to the flow before letting loose on his frets, by the time you’re halfway through disc one, the novelty has quickly worn off. No one is disputing the talent on show, but, I’d guess, with the intention often being to allow the guest stars (who give their names to the track they perform on) more than enough room to express themselves, in reality what happens is you receive an impassioned guitar solo - or piano outburst in the case of Giuseppe Vasapolli - and not really that much more.

There’s a good idea at the core of 27 Faces Of A Broken Heart and there’s a lot of time, effort and passion gone into creating it. However, from the outside looking in, you can’t help but get the impression that Ramin Partovi got a little too close to the concept and forgot to make an engaging album along the way.

Track Listing
1. 27
2. 27 (Yussi Wenger's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
3. 27 (Brent Mason's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
4. 27 (Jinshi Ozaki's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
5. 27 (Tom Kolb's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
6. 27 (Jon Reshard's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips & Carl Verheyen]
7. 27 (Scott Henderson's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
8. 27 (Andy Becht's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
9. 27 (Ervin Toucet's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
10. 27 (Ernesto Homeyer's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
11. 27 (Erick Walls Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
12. 27 (Doug Rappoport's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
13. 27 (Masta Edwards Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
14. 27 (Carl Verheyen's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips & Jimmy Johnson]
15. 27 (McCoy Mason's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
16. 27 (Jeffery Marshall's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jon Reshard & Carl Verheyen]
17. 27 (Robin Siedschlag's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
18. 27 (Brent Mason's 2nd Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jon Reshard & Carl Verheyen]
19. 27 (Brad Bailey's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
20. 27 (Oz Noy's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
21. 27 (Jeff Richman's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jon Reshard & Carl Verheyen]
22. 27 (Mike Stern's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
23. 27 (Gabriel Forsman's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
24. 27 (Mark Lettieri's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
25. 27 (Dean Brown's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson, Carl Verheyen & Ervin Toucet]
26. 27 (Giuseppe Vasapolli's Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]
27. 27 (Initial Studio Version) [feat. Simon Phillips, Jimmy Johnson & Carl Verheyen]

Added: December 15th 2018
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Ramin Partovi at CD Baby
Hits: 1275
Language: english

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