Below is a review of the Neptune Quartet "Live at Poppycocks" CD

by Robert Downes of the Northern Express.

   Weekend nights at Poppycock's restaurant in downtown Traverse City have become a "must" for those seeking a cosmopolitan, bistro experience. Here, mandolinist and impresario Don Julin has created an in

timate scene for those in search of grown-up music to wrap up the night, featuring a potpourri of performers that skew toward jazz, blues and worldbeat sounds.

    The flagship of that experience is Neptune Quartet, whose performances manage to sound excitingly improvisational, yet tight. The players, including Julin on effects-assisted mando, Angelo Meli on guitar, Crispin Campbell on cello, Glenn Wolff on bass, and an assist by singer Mike Gauthier, are top-drawer musicians individually; but put them together and you get a wardrobe of sounds that mix and match exotic themes. The result is far afield from what one might expect of a traditional string quartet -- this is an act of national caliber performing for a lucky few at their hideout in faraway Northern Michigan -- deserving of bigger venues such as Interlochen's summer festival.

    Julin & Co. have wisely recorded a live album, underscoring the acoustic intensity that pulls in the crowds in the first place. Plus, it must be said, too much polish on a local CD tends to cut many Northern Michigan bands off at the knees. No such problem here, however, where the sound is rich and the vitality of the music is upheld. On tunes such as "The Optimist," you can even hear the crowd and the clatter of dishes in the background -- a sweet touch that adds rather than subtracts.

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