Blue Maze

Reviewed by Bill Binkelman
Recording under the name Blue Maze, keyboardist Mars Lasar has released an album that really sits well with an urban smoothy like me. File this one alongside the work of people like Astral Jazz, Richard Bone, and other practitioners of that subset of jazz that swings but with a certain level of cool and sophistication that many purists would find disquieting. However, this is not smooth jazz, per se. It has very little trace of "groove" or rhythm and blues. It's more like late-night, the heart of the city, click of ice cubes in a glass of Jim Beam kind of music. You could certainly say this is sexy music, I guess (not that I know anything about that!). It's definitely got a libido factor way up there.
While I compared this to both Astral Jazz (who records on White Cloud) and Richard Bone, those comparisons are more from a standpoint of vibe (not vibes! no pun intended) than compositional nature. In fact, from a musical/thematic angle, I'd compare this to one of the great undiscovered albums out there, Peter Blake's Private Dawn. Hush has a soft easy-going way about it like Blake's music does. It's jazzy without being jazz; smooth without being numbingly soulless. Where Astral Jazzi's spacy jazz and Richard Bone's trilogy (you do know which albums I'm talkin' about, right?) is fun and funky in a cyber/retro way, Blue Maze/Lasar has his sites set on cityscapes of neon, steel, sparse traffic, soft conversation, and sighs of relief.
The opening track is not the best thing here, so don't judge the album by it; however, it introduces the feel of the album. That first track, "Luna Palace," features sultry sax and electric piano alongside slow tempo drums and lush (and I mean lush) synth strings. It's a decent opener, but not what I would pick. However, things do get cooking with the second song, "Beam With Me." Mid-tempo beats, great underlying synth washes, chugging synth-organ, and a jaunty bass/drum rhythm section combine with a jazzy piano melody to make me want to cruise into the wee hours of the night. The strings come on at the chorus and this shit is too beautiful for words. I am the world's biggest sucker for a hook - this song has 'em! And the next song, "Astral Diary" is another winner. It's like an ice-cold dose of Jonn Serrie, circa Midsummer Century, melded with smoky urban sensibilities. The drums are little pronounced at times for my taste, but the synth work is superb!
While some of the cuts on the CD are a little too uptempo for the desired late-night texture, overall, Hush hits a lot of the right notes for me. The title cut is romantic in spades, with a soft piano melody and underlying synths adding a feeling of regret and sadness (ah, unrequited love!). "Sweet Surrender" is a solid blend of heavy bass with almost twinkling synth notes that, amazingly, works pretty well. "Utopian Trance" ends the album on a midtempo note of the electric piano, snare drum/cymbals and strings, heralding the coming day as the long night of passion winds down.
While Hush is not for ambient or space music fans or for those who like their romance awash in sweetness and purity, those of us with some hot blood in our veins will, I think, resonate to the sultriness of these ultra-catchy numbers. Like a Henry Mancini soundtrack from the 21st century, Mars Lasar/Blue Maze's Hush is a soundscape of the city and all the romance, love, sex, hopes, and dreams that walk its streets at 2 am. Time for another tumbler of Johnnie Walker, my friend!