Saul Zonana - Phatso - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Zonana grew up listening to his older brother's Beatles, Who, and Police records. These influences peek through like sun on a cloudy day via Zonana's selective use of melodies, chords, harmonies and razor-sharp, Lennon-like vocals. It's evident even at first listening (and more so after two, three or four goes) to his seventh solo BLUE MONKEY that Saul Zonana's got soul, baby. The man's a clever musician and, dollars to doughnuts, a kick-ass live performer. But let's stick with the studio albums for a moment. There are always new sounds to grab on to though the overall concept is always wrapped in the same Zonana package of unforgettable songs. This is not your run of the mill one good song and the rest filler situation here people. This is one of the few times that we're not over using the word artist. In other words Zonana, to me, was born in the wrong generation of musicians. In a perfect world we'd be thinking of this guy right along the bands that he was raised with. In 2004, the catchy song Holiday, from his 2003 WAVES CD, managed to get steady rotation on Clear Channel radio stations which launched Zonana into major regional success but nothing more. The film 'Chasin It' which features Zonana aired on PBS and Lifetime channels. The video for his song 'Bette' from the 2001 GUINEA PIGS also was heavily viewed. His music also appears in several TV drama's and feature films. The latest film being Matthew Broderick's WONDERFUL WORLD. So Zonana is clearly a full time musician. He's kept busy as a live performer touring with the likes of Adrian Belew, Crash Test Dummies, Lisa Loeb, Ace Frehely and countless others. In the studio this guy is a sound smith. A musical autodidact, Zonana is often playing most if not all of the instruments on any given track. His self produced music has him always carving out something interesting and seems to keep adding instruments t