Perry Mills Project Offers Pos­i­tive Message

Perry Mills is bring­ing his band, the Perry Mills Project, to Min­ers Foundry tonight to open the [Robben Ford] show. Like its pre­de­ces­sor Objects in the Mir­ror, this band plays all-original genre-crossing music (jazz fusion to pro­gres­sive rock) that empha­sizes groove and move­ment, as well as vocals with a pos­i­tive message.

Says Mills, “We’ve been very con­scious of breath­ing more human­ity into our music with this project…touch hearts…unlock some emo­tional response…We want th audi­ence to leave the show feel­ing bet­ter, inspired and energized.”

The right music with the right mes­sage at the right time can be trans­form­ing for peo­ple, and gui­tarist Perry Mills has found his call­ing in bring­ing inspi­ra­tion and emo­tion to peo­ple through his music. On Thurs­day, Feb­ru­ary 7, backed by his band, the artist will per­form new high-energy, genre-crossing music at the Min­ers Foundry in Nevada City, CA.

Mills and drum­mer Mark McCart­ney foundedObjects in the Mir­ror in 2002. With key­boardist Bob Vill­wock, that band has since become the Perry Mills Project. Like its pre­de­ces­sor, the band’s all-original music cuts a path that vis­its jazz fusion and pro­gres­sive rock. The new sound empha­sizes groove and move­ment, and vocals with a pos­i­tive mes­sage, like this exam­ple from “Pick Up The Call”:

There’s just one cure in a world gone wrong /
We all need lovin’ /
If the cure for one / Is the cure for us all /
There’s an urgent mes­sage try­ing to reach you /
Excuse your­self and pick up the call.

“We’ve been very con­scious of breath­ing more human­ity into our music with this project,” said Mills. “We want to touch hearts with this music, to unlock some emo­tional response for peo­ple that they maybe haven’t yet found. At a live show, to con­nect in that way with the art and the audi­ence is uplift­ing for every­one. That’s what the art is really all about. We want the audi­ence to leave the show feel­ing bet­ter, inspired, and energized.”

The band will play an open­ing set at 8 p.m. to warm up the crowd for the head­lin­ing Robben Ford Trio Tick­ets are $30 at the door. For more infor­ma­tion, please visit www.nevadacitymusicevents.com.

When this Placer County jazz-fusion band gets it right–like on “Fun­kle,” which opens this album–it sounds like some­thing you might have heard on a late-1970s solo album by one of the side­men who backed Steely Dan: Larry Carl­ton, per­haps, or maybe Lee Rite­nour. Gui­tarist Perry Mills has the kind of pinched metal­lic tone that made Carlton’s solos on such Dan sta­ples as “Green Ear­rings” a delight, and the rest of the quin­tet has a good feel for what made the Dan’s weird, jazzy chord pro­gres­sions work. The vocal num­bers (“Get­away” and “What Do I Have to Do”) are the weak­est point, as are instru­men­tals that sound like Michael Bolton power bal­lads with cry­ing gui­tars (“Mis­ter Sen­si­tive,” for one). A more focused, audio­phile pro­duc­tion might sharpen things, too. Still, kinda inter­est­ing for 2004.

…the first annual Auburn Jaz­zFest this Sat­ur­day at the Gold Coun­try Fair­grounds, located at 1230 High Street in Auburn. The fest kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and fea­tures Ray Obiedo with Pete Escovedo, Frank Mar­tin & Friends, Michael Man­ring, Grant Reeves, Carol J. Toca, Incen­dio, Lor­raine Ger­vais and foothill-based smooth-jazz-fusion band Objects in the Mir­ror. The lat­ter quin­tet has a new CD, Drive, which is closer to Open Fire-era Ron­nie Mon­trose than, say, the Rip­ping­tons. Admis­sion at the gate is $55, with “gold” VIP seat­ing priced at $75.

Man vs. music
Wel­come to SN&R’s quar­terly Local-CD Roundup. Many albums enter. One man leaves.

…Could it be? No! Fusion jazz! It was Objects in the Mirror’s Steely Dan-influenced new release, Drive. Even in his delir­ium, the man could rec­og­nize solid musi­cian­ship when he heard it. Per­haps it was not too late for him after all.

Objects in the Mir­ror had helped, but it was up to the next two CDs to fully restore him to sanity…