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Read this review from Rift magazine!

Read this review from Minnesota Monthly!

The Smarts' "A Tribute To" is a classy little album constructed by three fine musicians.

The album combines modern jazz with pop rock to create a soothing, meditative sound that'll win you over, or at least it won me over. Jim Kennedy, Joe Weismann and Morris Engel are established Twin Cities jazz players who joined forces and created another musical project to add to their resumes. I played this album over and over again on a trip from Minneapolis to Columbus, Ohio, and the entire time the disc played, I felt at ease, which is nice on an 800-mile trip.

Production on "A Tribute To" is top notch. The songwriting is great and it conjured up images of something maybe Ben Folds and Harry Connick, Jr. would put together if they combined forces. I particularly dug the tracks "And Still the World It Goes," "Desiree" and "Pink Lemonade." I loved Kennedy's keys and Weismann's bass lines, but that's not to say Engel's a hack, because he held the whole thing together, which was a tricky task given some of the complexities of the tracks. I can't really say I'm up to date on the modern jazz sound, but if the Smarts are any representation of it, I should get my act together and dive into that genre. by Nelson Heise - Rift Magazine