David Tick and The People – an array of melodic formations and creative urges!

Composer keyboardist, vocalist and producer, David Tick is known for his wanderings into funk, soul, and jazz. All of which can be heard on his smoothly stunning album “The Freeze” and the EP “The People”. Tick who is also a contributor to AudioSparx has opened for such as artists as Earth Wind and Fire and Muddy Waters. If you’re interested in any music by Bob James, Herbie Hancock, Joe Sample and George Duke, you’ll definitely find something to appreciate in David Tick’s compositions and performances. Some of Tick’s music can be associated with smooth jazz but it is not devoid of interesting musical ideas. On the contrary it’s very listenable with enough complexity to advance the genre and something you can listen over and over finding new things in the tunes.

David Tick is a very solid keyboardist who I admire greatly for his broad knowledge of chords and progressions that are contemporary yet very tasteful and timely. Tick’s playing has strong rhythmic vibes enriched by a beautiful choice of chords and his signature runs or licks that seals the deal.

Listening to his music, it also becomes clear that David allows plenty of space for the other instruments and musicians to shine in his arrangements. On the whole, David Tick has the makings of a quintessential contemporary jazz keyboardist for this era.

Throughout his compositions Tick, goes through an array of melodic formations that show boundless energy to explore creative urges and acute sensibilities in producing varied atmospherics, seamed by inflecting and protracting soundscapes.

Listening to some of his older stuff, like the instrumental groove-driven smooth jazz of “I Keep Holding Back”, and then to one of his latest compositions, such as the effervescent crossover vocal track, “Yesterday’s Dreams”, it’s evident that Tick’s gifts for composing and arranging remain undiminished, and much the same can be said for his ability to recruit musicians who colorfully complement his songs, as is the case with his project David Tick and The People.

This latest track captures the spirit of the way Tick has shifted gears from the confines of the smooth jazz format that was once an innovative force, to a more crossover adult contemporary sound that can be appreciated by all. It’s a showcase example of a masterful musician at his most innovative and creative best, who is not afraid to expand his musical horizons, outside of the box.

In general, the melodic expressions presented throughout David Tick’s songs are aurally harmonious and aesthetically pleasing. His tracks are finely balanced so instruments blend into one another with his jutting keyboard notes sprinkled generously throughout the recordings. Ambient-enriched arrangements groomed in jazz-infused flavors make Tick’s music steep in contemporary influences with a couple of doses of nostalgia.