(photo credit Michelle Stone)

If a bow was a paintbrush and the channel from ear canal to the deep recesses of my brain was a canvas, John Mailander would be called Rembrandt, Michelangelo or da Vinci. There are musicians who surgically and expertly craft their songs, note by note. Each having its definitive place. Then there are musicians who allow the feeling and emotion of their playing to seep out of them freely. To flow, to wax and wane with the atmosphere and feeling around them. Mailander crushes the ideaology that those two things cannot exist on the same plane. The mastery that he colors his songs with, intertwined with tints and pigments of the raw emotion he injects into his songs. This is fully evident on his latest release “Forecast“.

The collection kicking off with a slow trot on “Oneida”, yet is evokes a huge and moving vibe. The leisurely, incredibly purposeful, draw of the bow, weeping alongside the jazzy inflections, an inspired movement. Building, ever measured, until a jubilant explosion of sound evolves. 3 of the 7 tracks (the aforementioned, “Blessed Relief” and the closing title track) contained within bordering the 6 minute and above mark, but never feeling overdrawn or too much. The arrangements that he has put together consistently keeping the attention, edge of your seat music that keeps you guessing, keeps you wonderings, keeps you wanting more. Flowing into a breathtaking dance between strings, covering Lennon’s “Imagine” and a reprieve 40 second “Now Here” before that closing track. The current of the music, flowing effortlessly, cascading at times and a slow drift at other times. Just the right amount of tempering between sentiment and sensation. Its an obvious aural experience listening to Mailander’s music, but the greater visceral impact of his music cannot be stated enough.

Perhaps what is most impressive about original instrumental music is when there is an almost orchestra of other things happening around the artist, but they manage to leave their mark in a way that it is undeniable that this is THEIR collection. Their playing. Their style. Mailander’s style is indisputable and the style and flavor that is pure John shines through.

Pick up “Forecast” today.