CD: You Can Close Your Eyes

Style: Singer/Songwriter

Quote: "It appears James Taylor is a good influence".

By Les Reynolds

Curtis Kamiya has released an eight-song CD with three of his own tunes that features his clear vocal style and good guitar sound. But he seems to almost prefer the work of others (good clue -- the title track) and sometimes it works, sometimes not.

The opener (title track) is an example of when it does work well. For the uninitiated, it's a James Taylor song and Curt does a fine job. He even manages to slightly resemble ol' J.T. with his smooth baritone. There's some nice backup vocal, but no indication on the liner notes of who it is or how it's done.

There are a couple of very pop-sounding tunes -- those are Curt's. "When I See You Again," which is slightly retro sounding in every respect with even a little Hawaiian influence and "The Harder I Try," which is a sligtly up-tempo finger-snapper. Another of his compositions is "A Little Longer," a slow, haunting tune with good guitars and some nice female backup (but, again, no indication in the notes who it is).

There are other tunes written by Darin Leong (the producer), Chapman and Don Mclean -- yes, that Don Mclean. "Empty Chairs" is the tune Curt selected from the old pop-folk singer, but doesn't quite carry it off -- you just don't feel the sadness here that you'd feel when listening to Don sing it.

Perhaps the best tune (maybe a tie with the title track) is Leong's "Shine." This one really pulls it out above the middle-of-the-road racks and is the only tune that approaches any real passion. There's a nice guitar mix, a long instrumental intro, good lyrics and a nice rhythm and overall flow that pulls it all together.

Overall, not a bad effort, but not great. Needs more tracks like the last one. And it appears James Taylor is a good influence, too.