Eric Roberts’ music is a treat for the senses, taking you wholly into exotic locations and drawing aural scenarios. His guitar melodies are beautiful: interesting enough to listen to intently, yet so unobtrusive they can also be a relaxing back drop.

“Brazilian Morning” is light and uplifting. The introduction paints a picture of dawn and the piece then moves at a moderate pace that imitates the movement and mood of morning activity. The melody is quite busy and intricate, with a pronounced flute that engages you intellectually. It has a nice, satisfying shape, building to a climax and rounding off without feeling too long or too short.

“Gentle Breezes” is very evocative of a seaside scene. It is beautifully cinematic, moving at a pace that makes the listener feel like they are panning over a landscape aurally. There are a few different melodic ideas developed, and once again various instruments are featured. There is almost complete departure in the middle section before we return to the central theme which is repeated in gentle waves towards the finish.

It’s hard not to start tapping your feet and swaying right from the opening bars of “Flying Free”. It’s probably one you’ll want to dance to.

“Children’s Song” has a fun playful feel with a very lyrical melody and a central theme that is developed through several movements. Its skip-along pace imitates child’s play and once again, draws a picture for its listeners.

“Brazilian Nights” is a change of pace and mood into something more sombre and intense - a smooth and intoxicating tune - very cocktail lounge. Again, well structured with a mellow introduction moving into a more settled pace and feel. The alternating lead instruments and improvisations prevent it from sounding repetitive and help develop the musical “story” so that we feel a sense of journey.

“Swiss Samba” with its classic jazz feel is familiar yet fresh. Nicely textured with an instrumentation that’s not too heavy, the shift to different lead instruments provides a variety of colors for the melody. It’s got an upbeat, swinging pace with lots happening in the rhythm to keep fingers and toes busy keeping time.

This is a varied and interesting collection of pieces, slotting into the jazz/latin/chill-out genre. It would be great as a cocktail party CD or mood setter and some of the tracks could easily be placed as theme music for TV. (www.songsalive.org)

Website :- www.ericroberts.org