TEARDROPS LIVE

A solo artist who has released an incredible amount of music in his time, French multi- instrumentalist and composer Sébastien Gramond is no stranger to the recording arts. With that being said, it is an interesting prospect to finally get to hear a performance from Gramond in front of a live, breathing audience. Armed with nothing but a Grand piano and his voice to entertain the crowd, a listener of 'Teardrops Live' can be assured that it would have been a vibrant piano concert to spectate in person, but as a result of basic and raw recording, Gramond's performance is really not done a fair justice.

'Teardrops Live' could very well be considered an unplugged, acoustic version of Gramond's music. Except, instead of a guitar, Gramond uses the piano to arrange his compositions in a somewhat new light. Although many of these compositions have been stripped of everything except keyboards, Gramond skillfully incorporates the parts of many instruments into the piano performance, making the tracks recognizable. In terms of Gramond's performance itself, the man does a good job at giving an entertaining performance, although some parts feel a bit rushed and inconsistent with tempo. Gramond's voice really shows some positive energy here, although the musicality of his vocal delivery is held a bit in question by the frequent pitch imperfections, although it's certainly not something that would matter much off a recording.

The big flaw with 'Teardrops Live' is the recording itself, which feels anything but professional. For sake of example, the shifting of chairs in the audience can be clearly heard, but Gramond's voice often feels muffled through the microphone set-up. There is also very little of the resonance and 'echo' in the sound that makes live performances sound that much different from studio recordings... Without the crowd ambiance, 'Teardrops Live' could easily be misinterpreted as a one-take studio recording.

For a live album I was rather excited to hear, I am somewhat disappointed by the end result. There are some keen arrangements of Gramond's material, but poor execution of the recording really makes this a release the pales when compared to the studio records.