“House of Dreams” by T-Ray the Violinist: Domestic Assessment
I’m not big on doing music reviews, because it’s a medium that’s way too open to interpretation and everyone is so loud about their opinions. That being said, when I meet an artist or an artist requests that I review their material, no matter what it is, I do it. I always say that no matter what, I’m a story first type of person. That’s my primary reason for reviewing books, movies, shows, etc. I believe I can see things that most people can’t, so I do reviews. That’s generally the purpose of critics. However, this is one project I had to review.
T-Ray is one of the most versatile violinists I’ve ever heard. Having grown up in New Orleans, I’ve heard tons of music (lots of it instrumental) and I can say that most musicians tend to find a pocket and stay in it. Once they find out what works, they kind of box themselves in and stay there. That can actually be said of most professionals, but T-Ray doesn’t do that. I remember a few years back when he referred to himself as “The Hip-Hop Violinist,” but it’s clear that it’s no longer his desire to stay in that particular lane. This is something that shows on this five track EP of his. It’s only five tracks and it spans multiple genres and has tones for every mood.
There is a particular rhythm and flow to the entire project. You can listen to each song individually, or you can let the entire thing flow through as one cohesive work of art. The word art makes me want to refer to these songs as “pieces” because of how expressive they are. “Night Window” in particular is very chilling and “Hallway Fantasy,” which features local music juggernaut Tarriona “Tank” Ball, is likely to bring a tear to the eyes of those who have experienced the song’s subject matter.
This is a project worth picking up and T-Ray himself is clearly going places. His face is showing up more an more all over New Orleans and he is branching out all over the place, which is evidenced by his recent “Fish and Chips” tour in London. Keep your eyes and ears open, I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more from this artist and I’m sure everything we see will demonstrate fantastic artistic growth and variety of genres and subject matter. An artist that explores is the best kind of artist and T-Ray appears to be both adventurous and fearless.
Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.
