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Chicago Tribune review of the album 3 Now 4 by 3 Now 4: Experimental music also is integral to New Orleans jazz today, as in an exceptional, self-titled recording, 3 Now 4, (SEM). Strange sonic effects, blurred tones, bent pitches, unmetered improvisations - these form the working vocabulary of this band (staffed by pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley, trumpeter/flautist Charlie Miller, bassist James Singleton, and Johnny Vidacovich and Jeff Boudreaux sharing drum duties). Yet because these are New Orleans musicians, they take pains to make even their most audacious passages inviting to the uninitiated. Only in New Orleans could music as unconventional as this sound nearly danceable. - Howard Reich
OffBeat Magazine review of Time Ebbing by 3 Now 4:3 Now 4 are a constantly revolving and evolving unit that create a continually fascinating universe of sound. Bassist James Singleton, pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley, drummer Jeffrey Boudreaux and special guest Nicolas Simion offer an engaging balance of atmosphere and adventure. While Singleton and Boudreaux form a solid rhythmic core that drives the band, Dave Easley is the one who really flies! Dave Easley has collaborated with Brian Blade, Daniel Lanois, and Joni Mitchell, and is one of the freshest and most essential voices in instrumental music today. Easley soars, shifts, and flows, forming elegant patterns passing from sphere to shining sphere. Reedman Nicolas Simion was born and raised in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania and befriended Singleton in Vienna, leading to a friendship that has culminated with his joining 3 Now
4 for a European tour and on his recording debut with the band on Time Ebbing. Switching from saxophone to bass clarinet, Simion fits right in with 3 Now 4's creative aesthetic. Simion offers a provocative and enthralling dance of colors, moods and textures. I especially enjoyed Simion's forays on the bass clarinet, digging into the deepest, darkest colors in jazz expression. With the exceptions of "Lover Man" and Thelonious Monk's "Off Minor," Time Ebbing is an all original work featuring compositions that hover around the five to eight minute range and effortlessly form an enjoyable recording that offers many happy returns. - Michael Dominici
Best Of New Orleans A&E Feature Review of Book of Spells by 3 Now 4: 3 Now 4 embodies a delicate balance between carefree mellow and emotive angst, and this, the band's second album, offers a hearty sampling of both. With Astral Project bassist James Singleton's agressive bass work at the helm, Tim Green's signature sax sound at the forefront and tag-team drumming by Quintology's Mark DiFlorio and Astral Project's Johnny Vidacovich, 3 Now 4 might sound like your standard jazz trio if it weren't for Dave Easley's pedal steel guitar work. A surprising element, the pedal steel adds a set of particularly unusual sounds to a band that doesn't pay much mind to stylistic confines. Formless improvisation, deep funk, and hillbilly bluegrass all fine a home in Book of Spells.
Opening with a lone, persistent sax call, the album unfolds into a weaving tone-color collage as the other players dance around the running melody freely, until they are called into unison by a commanding hard-bowed bass. Despite these moments of outre expression, Book of Spells maintains a healthy measure of accessibility. "Greasy Luck," a Singleton composition, has a straight-ahead 4/4 feel, with a continuous funky bass line to consolidate melodic meandering. "Winterize" is an Easley-penned floating mystery ballad with his own Jerry Garcia sound-alike vocals, filtered by spook-effects, complete with abstract lyrical metaphors. The same voice returns later, emerging from a mellow soundbed as the album closes with a liberal rendition of "Amazing Grace." of all songs. It's a musical journey that will delight those who accept it's challenge and disturb those who resist it. - Christina Diettinger
Alternatives (Gulf Coast): Easley belongs to the Orphic line of musical artists who report to society in music from the subterranean and sub-rational lode of the unconcious whose music is intuitive, ecstatic and oracular." - Judy Beck
Downbeat Magazine: ...new, effective voice..." (referring to Easley in their review of Brian Blade Fellowship's eponymous release.)
The New York Times: "...one of the crucial elements that give his (Briad Blade's) records a swelling texture and a warm, major-key Americana: the pedal steel guitarist, Dave Easley..." - Ben Ratliff
OffBeat Magazine: "...if he doesn't emerge as a guitar hero around the country after this, (American Ghost Music-Shannon McNally) people just aren't paying attention...eloquent and appropriate throughout." - Alex Rawls
Gambit Weekly: "...and the band had it too--notably pedal guitar wizard Dave Easley. His intense focus led to swirling solos in a style reminiscent of Jerry Garcia's abstractions, but with a punch..." - Frank Etheridge
"A very necessary development, that's what you've happened on. I am delighted to be acquainted with you and your style." - Dave Chamberlain - D. J. WRFG, Atlanta
More Awards:
Offbeat Magazine 1997 Best of the Beat Award: Best New Progressive Jazz Band went to 3 Now 3.
Gambit Magazine Big Easy Awards: Best Emerging Artist went to 3 Now 3.
MP3.com #1 song Sarah De La Mer (Psychedelic) during June 1999
MP3.com #5 song Magic Ball (Reggae) during June 1999
Informal Comentary by Some Prominent Figures in the New Orleans Music Scene:
"It's astonishing, really. Beautiful. I can't believe I didn't hear your band sooner." - Christina Diettinger
"Is the 'Icicle Man' Dave Easley?" - Coco Robicheaux and John Magnie (independantly and unbeknownst to each other.)
"...many tremendous gifts to give the listener...stories that leave one thinking...very involved stories and poems, intertwined with serious musical content, yet all the songs are very accessible. Another gift is that I've listened to this record three times in its entirety, and I've found some other tidbit I missed on the last listen... This is a CD I'll listen to again and again." - Tim Green (Sax for Peter Gabriel, Bruce Hornsby, Daniel Lanois, Cyril Neville, 3 Now 4, etc.)
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