JOAN TORRES’ ALL IS FUSED: “BEFORE” EP
by Metafork

Are you happy? Sad? Neutral? Well, regardless of the mood you’re in, ‘Joan Torres’s All Is Fused’ has a musical arrangement just for you.

Joan Torres is a musical veteran who is learned in a wide variety of musical genres like Salsa, Rock, Reggae, Latin Jazz, Funk, Fusion, Jazz and even Classical Choir music. As an adult, he recruited like minded artists to play alongside him and, voila, Joan Torres’ All Is Fused was born. The forming of the band resulted in the recently released EP entitled “Before.”

This is a very difficult instrumental EP to dissect from song to song, as every piece contains a multitude of elaborate parts. These musicians know their stuff; various progressive jazz elements like polyrhythmic drumlines that are dappled with sixteenth note time signatures and dizzying drum fills, intricate piano melodies that tumble up and down the keys with seemingly little effort, a plethora of harmonies and scales that range from simple to downright complex, great textural use of guitars a la Santana, brass instruments that are utilized perfectly, funky bass lines and more elements than I can count on my two hands.

My personal favorite of the album is “Doorway”, and that is because I’m a huge Rush fan. The opening minutes of Doorway reminded me of a Rush song, especially in terms of the drummer Fernando Garcia. He truly echoes the greatness of guys like Neil Peart, among others.

Songs like “True” and “Tragic End” are very relaxing and laid back, though no less technical. The smooth, lethargic piano work can instantly melt away the stress of a long day, almost to the point of cliche. The flamenco style guitar solos are aimless as well as striking, and even the bass player gets to rock out a couple of solos.

Joan Torres’ All Is Fused is a tight, well rounded unit that can make the most difficult music sound effortless. Fans of Salsa, Blues/Funk and Jazz will be taken aback by this enjoyable collection of great songs.

PRODUCTION: 80

MUSICIANSHIP: 91

VARIANCE: 88

LASTING VALUE: 82

OVERALL SCORE: 81

Source: The Signal