Cjeff-Positive

Christopher Leighton, known as Cjeff in the world of music, has a new release titled Positive. Leighton makes his way through 10 lively tracks hewn with the textures and colors of contemporary jazz, the fusion of rock, and tasty pop leanings that could find a home in the world of cinema or another recording studio for sampling.

Cjeff intends to offer his music for licensing so other artists can utilize it for whatever purpose they see fit. With that kind of coverage you could be become well known very quickly. It would be akin to being a well-known session musician except the artist would not have to be in the studio, just provide the tracks as needed.

This artist is good enough to carve out his own career without that type of arrangement. Even so, it is a very smart way to market your wares, and one never knows what kind of opportunity it could create. Hopefully people in the industry well recognize the talent of this man and the possibilities that he can afford those in the world of multi-media and music.

With exception of “It’s _ U,” the entire CD is an instrumental montage. Cjeff does not have a bad voice at all but I think staying the course with the instrumentals is the best bet, as this is where all of his strengths are.

The best track is “Return To New Orleans.” Upon my first listen to this particular track, I had no idea what the title was, as I was not paying any attention to what number track was actually playing. As I was taking in the first few minutes of the song, I looked down the track list and knew instantly what song it was. Cjeff takes the city of New Orleans and turns it into an instrumental picture with spicy jazz flavorings along with a proud tone that is befitting of the courageous people based in that area. The idea is to project all the feelings that make up this great city and convince you that you are right there. Cjeff makes this happen within the framework of the song in a convincing fashion, and in the other tracks as well. His goal of bringing a picture to life with music flows naturally on every track.

Cjeff plays bass, guitars, and keyboards, which drives other various synth parts and drum tracks. Notably, the artist writes the drum tracks from scratch. So what you hear in its entirety on this recording is the best of both worlds, the old school way of making music and the utilization of new technologies combined to make an appealing presentation spread across the canvas of a multi-hued musical canvas.

May 16, 2006

01. After the Dance (3:43)
02. Air Time (3:08)
03. Re:Visitor (4:27)
04. The Sun Oil (3:14)
05. Lidia’s Dream (4:33)
06. Return to New Orleans (4:13)
07. New June (3:44)
08. It’s_U (3:09)
09. Big Top (3:44)
10. Rollers (3:51)