I make no bones about the fact that Darren Michaels is one of my favorite artists and someone I'm proud to call a friend. every time I hear him play, he is an improved musician. While this is no easy feat for a performing musician, the really frightening thing is that each of his albums is frighteningly good! Darren is one of those rare few who manages to fuse every note he sings or plays with the kind of emotion we all want to hear -- and feel! -- in music. 

To say that I enjoy this album is really selling it short. There is so much on this album to enjoy that it is hard to describe in a simple review. And that doesn't do it justice. It is music to hear and feel and enjoy. It is one of those discs that makes it (insidiously, I might add) into regular rotation. 

The way Darren combines superior musicianship into tunes that are not only accessable, they are damn FUN... Well, it ought to be a crime. But I'm glad it's not.

And if that isn't enough, his live show always brings something new and vital to the table.

Great music from a great artist. It is the stuff you share with family and friends. If anything is, this is a keeper!!
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Full disclosure: I conceived my first child while listening to equilibrium (“Through the Arch,” yea).

I was skeptical that this latest offering could rival—much less exceed—the expectations raised by Michael’s earlier masterworks to which Cumulo will, inevitably, be compared. With only the slightest hesitation, I slid the CD into the tray. Would Chris Moore’s production mute the positively raw and experimental vitality on display on Green and equilibrium? Would the addition of vocals to Michael’s repertoire stand like a rusted-out junker in the stream of his music or tinkle like sunlight in the flow?

I should have known better than to doubt him. On Cumulo, the artist takes enormous strides stylistically and creatively around the immutable foundation of his sound, and the risks pay instant  dividends. These are signature songs of an expert craftsman giddy and glorifying in the myriad possibilities afforded by his tools and his talent. Listening the first time through, my wife laughed knowingly as I crooked an arm around her waist and pulled her close. This is music made for more than listening.
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I've worn out more than one copy of both Green & Equilibrium by Michaels.  The tapestries his music weaves leave great visual imprints where you can *almost* see the strands of music as he loops them around each other.   If I'd ever been asked what might be a great complimentary addition to his styling, I don't think lyrics would have occurred to me given the crazy descriptive nature of the melodies themselves.

That said, after just one listen to Cumulo it has become my most favorite of the 3.  Who knew his talent with note-weaving would carry over into lyrical impressions that can compliment or even recreate the emotion the music is infusing through your being.  I'm only giving it 4 stars because I can't wait to see what he'll surprise me with next!
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