Right The Stars - S/T

Be on the lookout for this alternative pop jazz rock monster of a release by music producer Rich Jacques under the name Right The Stars.  It is FM radio ear candy.  Mainstream alternative - a contradiction in terms but totally understandable.

Think of a combination of these influences -  banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, Jason Mraz,  almost a decade of knowledge as a music teacher to the stars and almost an equal amount of time as a music producer - and you start to get an idea about what Jacques is trying to do.  Or, should I say, has succeeded in doing. Waves of sound, soothing and soaring vocals - a memorable chorus or line.  Tight instruments.  These songs do not display instruments as lead vehicles. The instruments are used as intricate parts in a tightly constructed framework of sound solely intended to support each song.  Voices are used as instruments but instruments are rarely used as voices.  The writing and orchestration are finely tuned.  There is agony and grief in the lyrics, but, there is also hope.

Where does it come from? Jacques spent a year working with the We Can Pediatric Brain Tumor Network, a support group for families of children with cancer.  He even helped write a song about survival to help children cope with their diagnosis.  The pain shows in the lyrics. Empathy and passion can be overwhelming and you can hear it in the writing - it is extraordinary. From the hesitant hopefulness of the song "Making Deals With Gods" to the outright bursts of joy in "We Got It All" (which is being used by Honda in its Australian CR-V advertising) Jacques, with the help of a panoply of other writers, makes these emotions palpable and you can empathize. The African influences in "Life In A Northern Town" made me wonder whether Jacques went with Bela Fleck to Africa on Bela's recent tour,

Yes, the music is "commercial." Right The Stars' music will appear in the Brooke Shields and Brendan Frasier movie Furry Vengeance which is scheduled for release on April 1, 2010. However, just because it is "commercial" that doesn't mean it is bad.  In fact, in this case, it is wonderful.  Let the music seduce you.  Releases like this don't come along that often 

These are huge hits waiting to happen. 

 - Old School

Buy here: Right the Stars