Stringmansassy

Time Off – 7/5/03
Stringmansassy – Beautiful Day - 4 Stars

One of Queensland’s best kept secrets, jazz duo Stringmansassy are such classy jazz artisans they deserve national recognition. The second album from vocalist Kacey Patrick and guitarist Aaron Hopper, Beautiful Day is world class, mixing traditional jazz styles with enough of their own colour and verve to warrant broader appeal.
Patrick possesses a voice of unparalleled clarity, so smooth and precise it’s like listening to a melting ice sculpture. Hopper’s picking and plucking is suitably jazzy and equally meticulous without ever sounding too analytical – listen to “Before and After Rain”. There’s freedom in these songs, largely created by the space the pair breath into the composition and delicate arrangements.
Versions of “Gentle Rain” and “A Day in the Life of a Fool” by Brazilian jazz master Luis Bonfa are delivered with respect, but it’s their own compositions that tickle the tympanum. The sly, old school groove of “Helicopter” , simple melody of “Beautiful Day”, Continental gypsy swing of “Berlin Café” and subtle hook of “Lucky Day” are but a few highlights of an album that just keeps on giving.
Matt Connors
- Time Off - Matt Connors

“The world of stringmansassy is one in which ‘passion’ flows like an electric current. Each nuance of music played, each guitar string plucked, each note sung, each motion and action was made with conviction and belief. This music was right. It was important. It traversed themes from the light hearted to the politically adroit but the performance never strayed from feeling ‘true’. stringmansassy clearly love what they do and they do it very well.”
Andrew MacLean : music-culture.org.au 10/11/2003
Review of Brisbane Powerhouse 2/11/2003
- www.music-culture.org.au