The Senses

By A. MARIE BALL/VOICE CORRESPONDENT
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Oct 06, 2009 @ 12:00 AM

Finally, a band comes to town that gives its audience a sense of adventure.

On Sept. 26, five-part band The Senses graced Springfield with its presence at the Hoogland Center for the Arts.

Sporting a candy-red sax, some stylish sunglasses and an intriguing voice, lead vocalist David Cain took center stage along with many diverse instrumentalists. The quintet consisted of Cain, bassist Jeff Cunningham, electric guitarist Howard Freitag, trumpeter David Hoffmann and drummer Mike Newberry.

For the performance, the band had an unlikely accomplice: dancer Luda Bella. Bella danced gracefully throughout a substantial portion of the songs, adding to the serenity of the atmosphere. Song titles ranged from “Dude, Where’s My Face?” to “Be the Change” — each track with a unique rhythm.

Hailing from Springfield, this band encompassed big-city heart and new-wave edge into every song. Unlike most bands, they do not have a set style to their songs. Each song is different with genres ranging from jovial jazz to rigorous rock ‘n’ roll. Nonetheless, each melody was pulled off brilliantly during the performance, leaving the audience practically breathless after each song and probably begging for another song.

Traditional music was thrown aside. Onstage, the band members did not appear to be supplying the modern definition of “effort.” Instead, they looked as though they were having the time of their lives.

In addition, they also interacted tremendously with the audience, leaving me feeling as though I was sitting in the comfort of my own home with friends and not in an audience packed full with people.

This involvement proves that these men are not perfect— no matter how good they are at what they do — but simply human. Not only are they good as a whole, but each individual band member brought a different talent to the band. - The State Journal-Register

David Cain, musician, artist and multimediac
Senses, the band, releases a CD
BY TOM IRWIN

David Cain is an artist, and with that title bears the weight of discovering ways to make ends meet both creatively and financially. As the president and chief employee of UMEDIA, his multimedia company, and the composer/musician/producer behind Senses, his progressive jazz/rock band, Cain combines artistic dreams into business realities using creative talents to make a living while making art. With this balanced design he also found a world of discovery filled with possibilities.

“I’ve been doing art for something like 30 years,” he said. “I get up every day thinking anything is possible.”

With a glance at his list of accomplishments in both the separate and combined artistic and business fields (check Web sites for both UMEDIA and Senses), you’ll understand he not only thought of the viable ideas, but delved into achieving those notions as well. His current project concerns the second studio recording of Senses, the music composition and performance portion of the Cain program of putting art to life.

The band, with Cain on sax (yes, that red one), synths, e-drums, wind controller and vocals, includes some of the top musicians in central Illinois. As Howard Freitag (guitar and guitar synth), Jeff Cunningham (basses, looper), Mike Newberry (V-drums) and David Hoffman (trumpet and flugelhorn) cover the instrumentations, Cain then works with the talented abilities of these superb players to build a structure to hold his musical ideas.

“I’m not as much a songwriter as a composer, expressing my music themes then using musicians to edit the works,” explains Cain. “These local guys have all this experience in rock, jazz, playing in orchestras — why limit it to that? I enjoy making music and that feeling of getting lost in it.”

In the studio process, Cain begins with an original music piece, records it, then plays it back for the musicians to riff over, usually getting a take in not more than one or two passes. Sometimes he shows the themes to the musicians separately, asking them to play without the knowledge of what the other musician did to create the possibility of synchronistic melodic patterns. Other times Cain collaborates directly with each player, verbally describing the sound he desires and the effect he would like to hear. Along with the set band, guests on the Senses recording include Will Cain (mandolin), Josie Lowder (vocals) and Greg Fundis (percussion), plus the “fusion dance” of Luda Olifiruck in live performances.

“Years ago I would write all the parts out by hand in music notation,” he said. “For this project I just trust all the musicians to be brilliant and have fun.”

Along with his many and varied UMEDIA projects for organizations like the Illinois National Guard, American General, Verizon Wireless and Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Cain recently self-published a book, Who Moved My Illusion, conducts classes based on the works of Deepak Chopra, finished producing and editing the new Senses CD, WANT - NEED, and intends to direct a film this winter based on Tolstoy’s short story The Three Questions. In the midst of this flurry of activity Cain keeps a steady vision of balancing the play and work of art in life, pursuing a deeper purpose while understanding his own place in this world.

“The artist can help out business. We make things for people that have value. We need artists to bring joy and beauty. Without them what a boring and ugly world it would be,” he said. “And for me I just can not, not do it. I need to play, write, record and create.”
- The Illinois Times

Celebration of Senses
CD release party doubles as benefit for Hoogland Center
By NICK ROGERS
A&E EDITOR
Published Thursday, September 20, 2007

David Cain pays little attention to genre labels, but he’s happily soliciting suggestions on just what to call the music he’s made with his band, Senses, on the debut CD, “Looking For Your Face.”

Jazz? Boring, broad and not quite cutting it anymore, even if “Face” is being considered by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for a Contemporary Jazz nomination next year.
“Persian / Middle Eastern funky jams”? A bit too long.

Here’s a suggestion. Sufi-delica.

The suffix comes from a psychedelic swirl of sounds (scat vocals, improvisational soloing and breathy funk), with the prefix from a mystic Islamic ideal of divine love that inspired the project.

Lyrics were taken from, or inspired by, English translations of “The Love Poems of Rumi.” The 13th-century Persian poet discussed physical, intellectual and spiritual realities and possibilities of love. His contemplations served a devotion to Sufism, described in a book of its principles as “a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God.”

“In trying to synergize that feeling, the goal was to make compelling grooves that you could feel, whether you were listening intensely or just driving your car,” says Cain, who handles vocals, plays saxophone, drums, keyboard, flute and stitches in samples as the Senses frontman.

Senses is rounded out by: Howard Freitag on electric and synth guitars; Jeff Cunningham on electric and fretless basses; Sam Crain on hollow-body electric guitar; David Hoffman on trumpet and flugelhorn; and Mike Newberry on percussion.

Cain picked and plucked for influences from top artists on his iPod (Stanley Clarke, John Coltrane, Jan Hammer, Sting and Peter Gabriel, to name a few), and brought in bandmates separately for “musical Rorschach tests.” Mostly made from first and second takes, “Face’s” 12 songs tap into organic spontaneity Cain sought from his long-time musical cohorts.

“This wasn’t one of those things where you beat it to death and tear it apart to deconstruct it,” Cain says. “It was very much all ‘How does it make you feel?’ stuff from everybody.”

The CD release party for “Face” coincides with the 800th anniversary of Rumi’s birth … sort of. After all, nine days is close enough for party planning across eight centuries. The event also features a family-style dinner of Persian cuisine and guest appearances from Springfield Ballet Company dancer Luda Olifiruk (whose face adorns the cover) and bellydancer Andreana Maroon.

“It’s an evening of total immersion in the senses — smells, sounds, tastes, everything,” Cain says. “I just want it to be kind of exotic in that way.”

Nick Rogers can be reached at 747-9587 or nick.rogers@sj-r.com. Read his blog, Unpainted Huffhines, at blogs.sj-r.com/unpaintedhuffhines. - State Journal Register

Like a painter mixing colors together to see what new shades he can discover, David Cain is a risk taking artist with his band The Senses. On the Grammy nominated “Looking For Your Face”, the risk pays off as The Senses take cues from smooth jazz and infuse them with modern drum samples and funk bop to create their own trademark blend of a sensual jazz experience.

Read more... http://loremusicreviews.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html - LORE Music Group

If "Need Want" by David Cain & Senses were boiled down to one word, it would be: Hot. This soulful Progressive Jazz oozes virtuosity at every beat. Every instrument on the album from the bass guitar, to the trumpet, to the synth is played with impressive mastery of the craft. But most noticeably, Cain puts as much feeling into his sax playing as he does into his singing. As a whole, the sheer skill of this outfit is displayed in the track "To You." Also, they really stretch outside being boxed into any genre with tracks like "Dude Where's My Face." These unique qualities, along with great musicianship and years of experience are what make "Need Want" a successful album and one in which you will thoroughly enjoy. Matt M. and the RadioIndy.com Reviewer Team

Customer review at iTunes.com - Radioindy.com

Like a painter mixing colors together to see what new shades he can discover, David Cain is a risk taking artist with his band The Senses. On the Grammy nominated “Looking For Your Face”, the risk pays off as The Senses take cues from smooth jazz and infuse them with modern drum samples and funk bop to create their own trademark blend of a sensual jazz experience.

Read more... http://loremusicreviews.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html - LORE Music Group