Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7: Seahorse & The Storyteller (Truth & Soul, 4/20/10)
Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7: “Seahorse & The Storyteller”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Michael_Leonhart_and_the_Avramina_7_Seahorse_and_the_Storyteller.mp3|titles=Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7: “Seahorse and the Storyteller”]
The biography of Michael Leonhart reads like a wünderkind’s ascension to power, with multiple Grammy awards and appearances on more than 100 albums.
His latest solo album contains elements of so many genres that it’s hard to keep count. Chiefly, Seahorse & The Storyteller might best be termed indie acid funk — a style that’s both heavy and dreamy, jazzy and moody. Swells of strings, tinkling percussion, haunting female vocals, toy pianos, and wandering, echoing horn solos complement a steady dose of brass grooves and high-register singing.