Reviews - Distance

“Stan O’Daffer’s Distance is a promising debut from a keyboardist in my hometown of Minneapolis. It's an album of varied textures and melodies, spanning more than a few styles and moods and is a treat for those of you who enjoy your recordings musically diverse and yet cohesive in technical proficiency.

Origins, the album opener is an up‑tempo song, played mostly on piano (once you get past the synth chorus opening). Stan also plays assorted percussion on the album and there are some subtle percussive effects here. The song displays Stan's passionate intensity and softer side, too. Freeway, another up‑tempo number, is a great tune. It definitely conveys the mood of driving at fast speeds. Stan’s background is in jazz and this song certainly mirrors that fact. The ivories get a real workout. Distance, with piano and various synthesizers working together, is a ballad that's tender but never sappy. Stan blends his various keyboards well, only slightly erring in this song with a violin sound that seems a bit loud in the mix. When solo stings are synthesized, I like them kept in the background, while a real violin has natural warmth that plays better in the foreground. Still, the beautiful melody is enough to carry this song to a nice finish. Northshore has a quasi‑funky rhythm, kind of loping I suppose, that may take some getting used to, but I get a kick out of it. One of the things I admire about Distance is that Stan takes some musical risk throughout the recording. By the way, this song also features the expert acoustic guitar playing of Billy McLaughlin.

On some songs, the electronics take a center stage, like on the sprightly tune, Fragile, again counterpointed by Billy McLaughlin's guitar, or the has‑to‑be‑heard‑to‑be‑believed Snowflakes. Despite its name, this song could be from a yet‑to‑be‑released Tim Burton movie (maybe a sequel to that great comedy, Beetlejuice). It's scary, funny, weird, and happy all at once. Autumn is another somber ballad, and a good one at that, with just the right amount of wistfulness in the music to remind me of barren trees and walks alone through the fallen leaves. The album closes with Good‑Bye, a nice piano and synth song, wonderfully up‑tempo with a mixture of joy and sadness that is indicative of what good‑byes are, I suppose.

Distance reminds me a little of Wayne Gratz’s Follow Me Home in its great balance of very polished piano playing with imaginative and proficient synthesizer work. Stan is a gifted pianist and also someone with a quirky compositional style, and I mean that in the best possible way. He has made a highly individualistic recording, and one of very high merits, too.” - Wind & Wire Magazine

Stan O'Daffer has played with many people over the years. His music has charted in Billboard and he's received praise from Peter Gabriel for a cover version he did of "Mercy Street." So...why haven't you heard of him? I don't know. But I do know that if O'Daffer can continue to make albums such as Distance, you'll be hearing a lot about him in the future. His playing is that of a virtuoso but his sense of good taste is well developed. The music is simple and beautiful enough that average listeners are not disoriented while at the same time it is technically proficient enough that even the most accomplished musicians will be able to appreciate it. Thanks to artists like Yanni and John Tesh, "new age" music has been stereotyped recently as listened to by the same people who buy Michael Bolten records. Hopefully Stan O'Daffer will change that. We've already seen it happen to country music.

This disc is almost an hour of aural relaxation with none of the gimmicks you've come to expect from the major label version of the genre. In other words, it wasn't recorded in an ancient venue in Greece and there are no plush synths. I recommend it to anybody who is looking for the perfect music to play in the background at parties or to sit and relax to. - Kathode Ray Music Reviews

…LOVELY. - Peter Gabriel

"...it is always a treat to [hear] intelligent, interesting music...Mr. O'Daffer is truly gifted, and the combination with Billy McLaughlin is
superb. - KUAC Radio, Fairbanks, Alaska

For the quieter moments, Stan O'Daffer serves up a nice entree of piano, spiced just right with an occasional syntesizer, acoustic guitar, or unusual percussion piece, i.e. rainsticks, djembe, doumbek, or dohlke. A lot of O'Daffer's compositions are swirling and plenteous arrangements that fill the room with a sense of serenity, not dominating the atmosphere, yet not yielding presence. The electronic "Snowflakes" is a step from the norm, with an airy ambient feel, not like anything else in this collection. Also here is a chilling rendition of Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street". Fans of George Winston or Jon Schmidt should enjoy this debut solo effort from O'Daffer. - CDReviews.com Review