Moon Man

Female blues singer and songwriter Zola Moon was born in San Jose, CA, but her powerful song stylings might mislead listeners to guess that she was raised in the Deep South of Louisiana or Mississippi on grounds better known for producing great blues artists. She is self-taught, though she does mention numerous musical influences, ranging from B. B. King and Muddy Waters to Hank Williams and Tina Turner. Even with all of those wonderful influences, Zola Moon has worked hard to keep her sound all her own. Lost in the BluesZola Moon began her career in blues about 1983, in the San Francisco area. After seven years of performing, which helped her grow a large fan base, she finally released a debut album in 1990. It was titled Dangerous Love and recorded under the BareMoon Records label. Five years later, and with a new label, she finished work on an enjoyable sophomore offering, Lost in the Blues. It was followed in 1998 by Almost Crazy and then in 2000 by Earthquakes, Thunder, and Smiling Lighting. Some of the original blues tunes fans can sample on Zola Moon's albums are "Doll House," "Lucky Me," "I Look at the Fool," "Imagination," "Alley Cat," "Hollywood to the Hood," and "I Don't Think So."

"Until They Feel The Sun" is the first release from Seattle based prog band, Moon Letters.
The album functions as a 51-minute suite, with melodic themes carrying through the compositions and providing a sense of unity in spite of the variety of sounds. The sonic palette ranges from majestic full-band anthems to delicate acoustic passages to quick odd-meter instrumental workouts. Trew’s voice is expressive and appealing, with a vulnerable quality to it that carries a lot of emotion whether he’s nearly whispering or belting out a big climactic phrase. The band is amazingly tight, with coordination that would do a math-metal band proud, full of varying accents that they all hit together. Keyboard sounds tend to the classics: organ, piano, electric piano, Mellotron-like choir and strings, and Moog-like leads…

Happy the Man's masterpiece takes their unique style to new levels of achievement, at points reminiscent of a blend between the complexity and occasional medieval embellishments of Gentle Giant and the soothing, melodic beauty of Camel circa The Snow Goose. On each of the album's instrumentals (and on the sole vocal track of the release, Wind Up Doll Day Wind) the band's capacity to evoke an atmosphere and remain accessible and catchy even when presenting their most challenging material constantly impresses.

Happy the Man's masterpiece takes their unique style to new levels of achievement, at points reminiscent of a blend between the complexity and occasional medieval embellishments of Gentle Giant and the soothing, melodic beauty of Camel circa The Snow Goose. On each of the album's instrumentals (and on the sole vocal track of the release, Wind Up Doll Day Wind) the band's capacity to evoke an atmosphere and remain accessible and catchy even when presenting their most challenging material constantly impresses.