Jon Regen: Press

Regen skillfully proves that he’s a force to be reckoned with. Sentimental ballads such as “Better Days” and “Photographs of You” are certain to pop on a soundtrack or a TV show in the near future and lead single “Let it Go,” certainly has a rollicking movement to it that would make Michael McDonald smile.

Sometimes an album just hits the mark. Let it Go is one of those records. There is something to it that just feels like home. Jon Regen has taken on the singer/songwriter genre from a point of view not often seen. The New Jersey native has a Jazz pedigree but the heart of a pop songwriter with the ability to make words and music move your heart through the arc of a relationship’s highs and lows.

Let It Go is a wonderful album - it's full of depth, emotion and feeling from the beginning to the end. I've found it to be a very relatable album, with songs such as Photographs of You and I Come Undone.

Let It Go has high folkpop credibility, with production work from the same guys who work with Teddy Thompson and Ryan Adams, and support from Martha Wainwright on vocals and the distinctive guitarwork of Andy Summers of The Police, but Regen's original songwriting and stellar performance are the real find here.

**** FOUR STARS. It's hard not to be drawn in by Regen's emotional ballad "Better Days" and the bittersweet "Photographs of You." Recommended.

Tracks range from the Randy Newmanesque "It´s Alright By Me", which sounds like a strong contender for the next Pixar movie soundtrack, to a brace of tunes featuring guitarist Andy Summers - the hypnotic "Close To Me" and "Finding My Way Back to Me" (whose opening riff sounds like a very close relation of "Don´t Stand So Close To Me"). Regen displays an impressively wide pianistic touch, hitting the piano so hard in the title track you can almost feel the vibration of the strings, caressing the notes in the touching ballad "Better Days".

His piano fills, alternately funky and frantic, held the interest as an air of Seventies blue-eyed soul, Carole King-style, began to descend.

Radio-friendly pop tunes, featuring rich lyrics, cool and honest vocals, and grooving piano and organ playing...Like (Bruce) Hornsby, Regen has facility, hipness, and the confidence to pull it off.

Perfectly poised contemporary pop, much in the vein of icons like Billy Joel and Randy Newman...Let It Go is another significant milestone in Regen’s burgeoning career, and represents a consolidation of his composing aptitude and an inspired indicator of his progressive pianistic skills. It’s also solid proof that contemporary pop can be witty and emotional, without once slipping into awkward mawkishness.

Regen comes out swinging with the album's title track and continues to impress with songs that include "Close to Me" and "Finding My Way Back to Me."

It’s Regen’s own writing and crooning that carry the day here: “Better Days,” “Disappear” and the title tune make the most impact with no “name” assistance whatsoever. Regen’s proven himself a master of jazz and pop...

Pianist and singer Jon Regen is a brilliant storyteller... He has already developed his completely own handwriting as a composer.

Jon Regen is one of the best young jazz pianists in the world.

Michael Hill gives a double concert with Jon Regen, the miracle child from New York, who one can quite compare with Billy Joel.

Regen's voice might carry him a long, long way.

Although the British press has described Mr. (Jamie) Cullum as "Sinatra in sneakers," he is a long way from having a Sinatra or Nat Cole-level vocal instrument. Likewise, he has less technique as a pianist than, say, Jimmy Scott's prodigious accompanist, Jon Regen...

Regen made a name for himself with the great Jimmy Scott. A fine pianist (and protege of Kenny Barron) he's moved into pop crossover material with his new album, influenced by the likes of Randy Newman and Billy Joel.

Regen takes cues from forebears like Randy Newman...both in the sardonic bent of songs like the wry "Only My Credit Card Remembers Where I've Been" and the laconically elegant tenor of "Hold Out Your Heart..." He got a lot of mileage out of clever phrasing, blurring the lines of measures on the "What Am I Supposed to Do From Here," a vaguely Norah Jones-styled amble that proved to be the most overtly jazzy tune of the evening.

After a promising start as a jazz pianist, Jon Regen switched gears to try a slightly different approach. On this studio date he sticks to original material that fits in the singer/songwriter camp. Like Bruce Hornsby, another singing pianist with jazz roots, Regen is a good storyteller, though he reins in his skills as an improviser a bit more. Highlights include the introspective rocker "What Am I Supposed to Do From Here," the ballad "Little One," along with the road weary "Only My Credit Card Remembers Where I've Been," to which any traveling musician will relate. While jazz fans may be surprised with Regen's switch of his musical focus, this CD is well worth hearing. **** FOUR STARS

Jazz pianist/singer Jon Regen takes a left turn into pop with his latest disk 'Almost Home.' Staying within the confines of a piano trio is a wise move; it not only provides a link to his previous work, but keeps the melodies from riding the triple-A line too closely. It also keeps him from sounding too much like other piano pop icons; without the full-on production of a Bruce Hornsby, Elton John or Billy Joel, Regen sounds more like himself than anyone else. Songs like "Better Than Before," "What Am I Supposed to Do From Here"and the bemused "Only My Credit Card Remembers Where I've Been" won't rewrite the rules of pop, but they're solid tunes with instantly appealing melodies and soulful vocals. Best of all, none of this record feels like slumming; Regen is no jazz snob dabbling in pop for the money. If Regen can sustain as fertile a career in pop as he has in jazz, he'll be set.

With the elegance of Sting's lyricism and vocal fluidity, Bruce Hornsby's memorable piano-driven phrases, Paul Simon's casual sophistication and Billy Joel's mastery of the highly-concentrated, penetrating hook, Regen has woven a tapestry of adult contemporary pop and jazz that reflects on the integration of intelligent songwriting with the elemental and unbridled force of
the human spirit.

Regen, who is mostly recognized for his brilliant piano accompaniment with the legendary jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott and frequent gigs with Kyle Eastwood - gives his music such a veneer of aestheticism that the listener can actually involve their personal experience through the songs. With vocals reminiscent of Billy Joel and Sting, Regen does wonders for “Hold Out Your Heart,” and “What Am I Supposed To Do From Here.” Jon Regen is definitely worth the listen.

The pianist recorded here years ago and set candles under the ivories, then let loose. He chooses chords with Monk’s daring, phrasing them with Kenny Baron’s delight. Regen plays handsome ballads with a hungry attack, sometimes singing. He’s readying for tour with singer Jimmy Scott.

A protégé of jazz great Kenny Barron, Jon Regen is a pianist of great lyrical gifts, using his masterful technique to caress a melody like a lover strokes the object of his desire. The three-part "Tel Aviv Suite' is a marvel of collective improvisation and jazz piano melodicism.

Four years of studies with Kenny Barron at Rutgers University and wide recognition as runner-up in the 1996 Great American Piano Competition undoubtedly fortified pianist Jon Regen's talents and infused him with confidence. At this May 4, 1998, Blue Note Jazz Club date, Regen displays well-honed, elegant chops, performing for the first time with veteran bassist Ray Drummond to deliver a hardy set of seven (mostly original) tunes enhanced by Yoron Israel's creative timekeeping. A dynamic player, Regen phrases with resourcefulness and sensitivity, especially on lengthier tunes such as his riffing Latinate original "From Left to Right," a joyous remake of "You Don't Know What Love Is," and the sonorous finale, "Un Pollo Loco." Judging by this first-rate debut recording, Regen made the right choice when he switched from saxophone to piano at age 17. He's a gifted pianist-composer whose burgeoning career merits tracking.

Young pianist Jon Regen entertained a Top of The Senator audience with an artful blend of improv, classically influenced structures and two-fisted percussive panache. He plays intricate music that defines and occupies its own niche while displaying the maturity one might expect of a protégé of Kenny Barron.

Two years before his "Live at the Blue Note," Jon Regen already possessed a certain maturity. Elegance, clarity, sensibility and swing testify to it on "One for KB."