Anthony Phan
Stet
Self-Released
Street: 04.01.2009
Anthony Phan = Dave Brubeck + John Coltrane + Leonard Nimoy
50% of this album is 100% awesome.  Where has Phan been hiding?  Seriously, Stet is bursting at the seams with covetable musicianship and originality.  “Reggae Macabre” could be a chill Mr. Bungle song, where Phan and his friends (there are a lot of contributers on this album) brilliantly fuse jazz and a latin dance feel with enough quirks to keep the listener not just listening, but grinning.  The gospel-inspired “100 Miles From Here” is a bluesy classic, with Jes Luckett’s spot-on soulful vocal.  And “Miss Fortune” feels like a nod to Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer,” but with a delightfully fresh approach.  Sure, parts of the album are less mesmerizing than others, and there is some rapping I could do without, but as a whole, it’s hard to believe that I haven’t heard about Stet sooner. I’m continuously left wondering, “Where has Phan been hiding?’