Michael Franks’ album, “Time Together†may not be revolutionary, but it’s undeniably charming. A great album to introduce a newbie to Jazz, the excellent work of Franks and his band is the epitome of a fantastic summer album, worthy of multiple listens.
Franks’ voice is a tribute to old school Jazz. Ranging from a playful yearn to a careless whisper, his voice is able to simultaneously tell a story and get you to relax. With fun lyrics that range from subjects of love and lounging around the yard, this is the type of album that belongs alongside an empty beach and a pail of ice-cold coronas.
While Franks’ voice and song writing has a lot to do with the success of the album, the soothing guitar work by Chuck Loeb, David Spinozza and Romero Lubambo is a close second. After a few solos, you’ll be so impressed you’ll probably want to Google all of them. Much like Franks, is smooth and polished on every track. Nonetheless, this album is more than good singing and guitar work. The big band feel is what ultimately gives the album most of its zeal.
When all of these elements are combined, Franks’ album is a pleasure for the ears. There aren’t many albums out there today that you can leave on the whole way through. Franks’ is a rare gem today in a market filled with mediocrity. Again, while it’s not a breakthrough in the genre, it’s simplistic and captivating approach gets the job done.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
Michael Franks’ album, “Time Together†may not be revolutionary, but it’s undeniably charming. A great album to introduce a newbie to Jazz, the excellent work of Franks and his band is the epitome of a fantastic summer album, worthy of multiple listens.
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