Jennifer Batten Whatever
by Matthew Hoffman
Staff Writer
When an artist or an entire band doesn’t take “themselves” too seriously and chooses to have fun with music it usually work very well and serves as an example of how many musicians should approach their trade. In the case of solo instrumental guitar CD’s this has never really worked well. In fact only one time in recent memory has creative horsing around been a good thing (Mathias Eklundh’s Freak Guitar). With a woman in a man’s game this would seemingly be a death nail. In anything on Earth but especially metal, a female usually has to do it better faster and for a longer period of time to be taken seriously. A great example in the how not to do it category is any release from The Great Kat. Her shenanigans were obviously needed however to distract peeps from her lack of talent in the neo-classical shred arena. In the case of Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson, Jeff Beck, solo) more than two decades have passed chronicling her respected guitar for hire skills, so the fact that she managed to fall into this ridiculous trap and off the proverbial primrose path on her latest release on Lion Music entitled Whatever is even more problematic.
Possibly it happened because she thinks she has earned it, but even if she has, it is not attractive. Thankfully for guitar fans, the CD also features her emotional feel, as well as her lovely, clean playing in addition to all the screwing off (especially using too much sampling).
One of the key cool parts are the song “Fearless” which she plays an electrified acoustic instrumental number that has the strings almost talking to the listener. The tone and overall mixing is exceptional as the ancillary sounds of her moving from string to string are crystal clear and inspiring.
A song where you see her talents having to combat vs. the nonsense is “Run with It.” You truly see her talents for the six-string through her distortion technique and excellently bent notes but they compete the entire song with the noisy sampling of young children playing and ridiculous African beats.
Another thing Jennifer does that went out with the goatee’ in the late ‘90s is use too many drum machine beats which is a big no-no in the current guitar hero world. One example of this getting in the way is overtly mechanical “Cupids Arrow” which would be better with a live drummer and no stupid samples. The samples are another major distraction from her emotional serene guitar play.
As you can ascertain it is an effort to find the beautiful play and if you have to sift through nonsense to get it the CD is certainly not worthy of purchase, especially in a genre rife with top shelf releases from guitar freaks like Joe Stump and Francesco Fareri.
Finally there are too many different cultures represented as if this is a release that you get with a Bennetton Rugby purchase. Using a few cultures or varied styles is ok, but this CD is like the United Nations of guitar albums, except it doesn’t come with an expert interpreter.
With all the malaise and distractions getting in the way this CD is certainly not recommended for purchase.
Label: Lion Music
Band Members
Jennifer Batten- All Guitars
Sandin Wilson- Bass
Andre Berry- Bass
Jon Clark, Debbie Schepp, Bret & Kari Helm, Ann Marie Crouch, Nel Gerome, Leah Santos, Sean Dailey- Vocal Samples
Skip Vonkuske- Cello
Nelly Kovalev – Violin
Betsy Hamilton- Native American Flute,
Michael Jordan- Drums on “Inner Journey”
Track Listing
1. Ass Whoopin’
2. Ricochet
3. Off the Deep End
4. Whatever
5. Fearless
6. Hooligan’s Holiday
7. In the Aftermath
8. Run with It
9. Cupid’s Arrow
10. Inner Journey
HRH Rating: 4.3/10