Accordo dei Contrari

Dan: Hello Giovanni, would you mind introducing yourself and the rest of the band?

Giovanni: Hi Dan & ProgSphere, I’m Giovanni Parmeggiani, keyboard player and composer of most of the music of AdC. Cristian Franchi is the drummer, Daniele Piccinini is the bass player and serves as the manager of the band for he deals with website and merchandising, and Marco Marzo is the guitar player and also composer of some of our music. We are an electric-acoustic quartet who plays mostly instrumental music, sometimes filled with vocals too.

So far we have released two albums, Kinesis (AltrOck productions, 2007) and Kublai (self-production, 2011). Since 2009, we have been playing in several festivals in Italy and Europe, most recently together with Richard Sinclair, the vocalist and bass player of seminal groups of the Canterbury scene like Caravan and Hatfield and the North. In addition to performing our music, we have also performed some historical tracks of these two magnificent bands (e.g. “Winter Wine”, “Waterloo Lily”, “Share It”, “Fitter Stoke Has a Bath” and others). Richard has also singed on “L’Ombra di un Sogno”, a track that I composed for AdC and we recorded in Kublai. We had also been invited to perform at the NEARfest but unfortunately, as you may know, the 2011 edition of this prestigious festival was cancelled.

Dan: Would you mind telling us something about the band’s origin and history? I understand you’ve gone through a lot of lineup changes.

Giovanni: AdC lineup has changed so many times! Probably too many, but that’s life, you see: it is never easy to find the right people to play with. Anyway, the band was born in Bologna, Italy, in 2001. I had many musical ideas and I was lucky enough to meet Cristian, the drummer, who was crazy enough to play with me. We worked initially as a trio—I used to play the organ, the electric and acoustic piano, and also the bass parts by synth because of my propension to bass lines, together with Cristian at the drums and Alessandro Pedrini at the guitar. After that, in 2004, AdC became a quintet: Daniele joined in on the bass, Marco on the guitar and Vladimiro Cantaluppi played the violin. One month before the recording of Kinesis, our first album (June 2006), Vladimiro left the band—he was very busy with other projects, but principally he didn’t feel confortable with the kind of music we were playing. AdC thus became a quartet. Since then, we have been a quartet. We’re very happy with our current setup.

Dan: I really like the band name, how did you guys come up with it? “Agreement of Opposites” is the English translation, for those readers who don’t understand any Italian.

Giovanni: It was by some chance. At the beginning we were three different people (now four), each with a distinctive view on things. It was not simple to work together, and after an initial discussion Cristian said: “Here it is the band’s name: Accordo dei Contrari!”. It’s a fun circumstance, as you see. Interestingly, our music is, indeed, an harmonic agreement among very different—sometimes opposing—moods and musical styles. “Accordo dei Contrari” happens to be the right name not only for the band, but also for the music we play.

Dan: Let’s discuss your first album, Kinesis, for a bit now. You told that just before recording began your violinist left the band. Apparently having violin on the album was a big deal to you (not that I can blame you) because you got some onto it in a few months. This must have been a rather annoying process; do you have anything to say about it?

Giovanni: You are right. We were very discouraged when the violinist left. I was particularly disappointed, because most of the music I had composed was perfect for violin (you see, I love music for string quartets, especially Beethoven, Bartok and Shostakovic, and I still compose music that involves strings). We had no time to find another permanent violinist. However, a friend of ours, who incidentally plays the violin, helped us by playing some of the violin lines that I had composed. Fortunately, the music in Kinesis works even without violin (what a great surprise!), but I have to admit it, if all the violin parts had appeared, the whole music would have had a rather different—perhaps even better—impact.

Dan: Kinesis’ style is rather dark and heavy, with almost a metal vibe (especially from the guitars), but I certainly get the feel of lighthearted jazz fusion even if it perhaps isn’t the “traditional” Return to Forever/Weather Report kind. What do you have to say about Accordo Dei Contrari’s playing style?

Giovanni: My compositions often have a dark feeling. The “heavier” vibe in Kinesis depends on the guitars for sure, but also on the distortions that I apply to the organ. The organ produces a sound that I love, as it is also evident from our latest album, Kublai. All of us play always rather powerfully, and this explains why the distinctive feature of Kinesis, alongside with dynamics (i.e. fluid changes in time-signature), is strength.

Nevertheless, if the music of Kinesis had been played as it was originally conceived, i.e. by acoustic piano, one would have had the perception of contemporary chamber music. The fact is that at the time of the recording of the album, we were not mature enough to properly interpret the music, respecting its original inspiration. It is also true that electric jazz is part of Kinesis, but in a particular way, as you rightly point out. I think this is because of my approach to jazz music, which was self-taught and heavily influenced by rock music on the one hand—progressive rock in particular—and contemporary music on the other hand (Messiaen and Shostakovic, for example). The result is a “magma” where one feels the presence of many artists at the same time, like Soft Machine, National Health, King Crimson, Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Zappa, Steve Coleman, Tim Berne. . . These are indeed among my favourite artists.

Dan: What about Kublai? Tell us about the similarities and differences to Kinesis.

Giovanni: Kublai is, in my opinion, a more mature undertaking than Kinesis, in performance as well as in composition. The original ideas of Kublai have not been “betrayed” by the actual performance. As for Kinesis, we recorded Kublai live in a few days, but instead of sounding consistently powerfully as it happened in Kinesis, with Kublai we succeded in finding a subtler and deeper balance among us. This is the welcome effect of several years of rehearsals and gigs together: we have definitely grown up as a live group.

On the one hand, Kublai moves in the same direction of Kinesis: we always look for natural, fluid changes of time-signature without altering the whole homogeneity of every track (this is indeed a feature of AdC’s aesthetic in music). On the other hand, Kublai surely represents a strong step forward, because of its variety of musical forms, better arrangement and improved instrumentation and recording. We have also expanded our musical language—see the use of oud in “Arbesque”—looking for new, exotic atmospheres. And what was new for us at the time of Kinesis, namely improvisation, became a standard at the time of Kublai.

Dan: Could you tell us about the band’s gear? I’m particularly interested in the keyboards, but I’m sure our readers would be interested in the instruments the other members of the band play.

Giovanni: When I first arrived at Mauro Pagani’s Officine Meccaniche (Milan, Italy), the studio where we recorded Kublai, I was impressed by the many instruments I had at my disposal (an Hammond C3 in perfect conditions, Leslies, every kind of vintage synths, amps and electric pianos, two Stainway pianos, one of which played by Duke Ellington [!!!]). I asked: “I need a gong”. The staff answered: “No problem, here it is”. There we could find every kind of instrument for orchestra: it was incredible!

While recording Kublai, I used my own Minimoog and Arp Odyssey (mark III, i.e. black-orange face), and also played a Rhodes mark I with Fender Twin Reverb amp, an Hammond C3 with Leslie 122, a Stainway mezzacoda (you hear it in “Battery Park”), and a Stainway coda (you hear it in “Dark Magus”, “L’Ombra di un sogno” and “Più Limpida e Chiara di Ogni Impressione Vissuta part I”). Cristian played his original Gretch drums; the other guys used their own instruments (Marco and Daniele played a Gibson SG and an Alembic bass, respectively) with amps from the studio (Hiwatt 50 for guitar, Hiwatt 200 for bass). A dream, for sure, but real!

Dan: I’ve watched some of the videos on the band’s YouTube channel, and I must say they’re very good quality for YouTube. The quality really helps to show how awesome you guys are live, so my question is: What’s your secret? How do you bring that energy from the studio to the stage?

Giovanni: Thank you, Dan. Actually, several people, who have seen us in concert, argue that we are better live than in studio (!). I don’t really know the source of our energy: probably it’s friendship, but also the fact that we always interact and see ourselves as a living rock group.

Dan: I think I’m out of questions, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Giovanni: We are currently working on a third album. I hope we will record it in June 2012. We still have several pieces that we have not included in Kublai, and we are still composing as of today (Marco and I have just composed a new track together). But abundance of ideas is never a problem . . .

DanGoodbye Giovanni, and thank you for taking the time to do this interview with ProgSphere.

Giovanni: Goodbye Dan, many thanks to you and ProgSphere for your excellent observations and questions.

Buy Accordo dei Contrari “Kinesis” from:

The Tangent – COMM [Promo]

*DISCLAIMER*

This review is made based on an early release InsideOut Music has sent ProgSphere. This is not the 100% complete version of the album, and this review will be updated in the future when that new version is presented to us. That said, the album is pretty fucking great already.

*

When I finish writing this review I will email ProgSphere’s editor-in-chief who lives in Vancouver (almost four thousand kilometers from New York, where I live) to tell him to put the finishing touches on it before posting. After that I will tell Nick, who lives in Serbia (almost seven and a half thousand kilometers) that I’m done and that he can read it if he so desires. Such is the status quo in this positive feedback loop of technological growth that we call the age of the internet. Mr. Andy Tillison’s long-awaited opus COMM discusses the ups and downs of this GPS culture (see what I did there?) with his own trademarked brand of social commentary. With such masterpieces under his belt as A Place in the Queue and Down and Out in Paris and London, where does COMM stand in comparison?

First of all, to those of you who haven’t kept up with the band’s history, it’s hard to find another group that has changed lineups so frequently. The current lineup, which has probably lasted longer than any other, is certainly the best the band has ever been. Vocalist/keyboardist/composer Andy Tillison is of course still the lead and Jonathan Barrett’s incredible bass duties are retained from the previous album, but we have two newcomers in Luke Machin on guitar and Tony Latham on drums. Having seen this lineup play near London last November I must say that my previous statement in regards to their quality is definitely the case. The band feels much more cohesive than ever before, much like a single being with individual organs. That difference does bring a change in sound, however. Because the band is reduced to an almost-classic rock setup (keys, guitars, bass, drums + singer), the sound almost appears stripped-down in comparison to before. There are many fewer sweeping symphonic Hammond solos a la In Earnest, and there’s a distinct lack of the previously heard Canterbury influences, mostly because Theo Travis is no longer a “full member”, but rather a “guest”. He still appears, but much less prominently than before. Still, all of this is nothing but beneficial to the concept itself. Would it make much sense to produce a retrogressive symphonic/Canterbury album about THE INTERNET!? That would seem forced and corny. The Tangent does not do forced OR corny.

Instead we have something fresh, unique, and most of all, modern. The sweeping symphonic soundscapes appear when they’re necessary, but they are no longer the driving force behind the music. In this album’s case, the concept is what takes hold. There is an almost punkish, sometimes electronic energy to the music that certainly aids in generating this modern feel, but the music is of course never repetitive or simplistic like those styles of music generally are. This is nothing but pure, modern prog. This new sound is sure to upset some diehard fans at first. I must admit that I was taken aback at how odd The Tangent sounded at first, but after I kept listening I realized just what I was listening to. As Nick told me, “it’s a grower”. It certainly is.

The Wiki Man – The album opens up with this twenty minute epic, in true Tangent style. The track itself opens up with one of the most unpleasant sounds known to humankind – the dreaded sound of a dial-up modem. That sound is certainly going to take a few of you back to your childhoods the way it did me. In essence, this song seems to me to be about how the internet is simultaneously an amazing vehicle for ideas (such as when Mr. Tillison comments with wonder on how he can communicate instantly and easily with people who speak different languages and employ different alphabets) and a message board for idiots to pretend their opinions are fact. Overall the outlook is good, but with enough bad to be worth noticing. Musically this song is an avatar of every point I tried to make before about the band’s new sound. Where there are sweeping symphonic solos, they are here instead made with synthesizers instead of hammonds (I recognize that hammonds are technically a kind of synth, leave me alone!). Overall the entire piece doesn’t come close to recalling the music of something like In Earnest or Where Are They Now?, but it isn’t trying to either.

The Mind’s Eye – The first time I listened to this song I honestly didn’t like it. I found it chaotic and dissonant, nothing like what The Tangent is usually like. I recognized Andy’s old band Parallel or 90 Degrees amongst the chaos, but I didn’t connect it to Po90’s smoothness. However! On my second listen it clicked and I grew to appreciate what I was hearing much more than before. Much more than every other track on the album, Mind’s Eye is an acquired taste. As I write this I am listening to it for the fifth time, and I’m enjoying it more than ever before.

Shoot them Down – This song is a nice ballad, rare for The Tangent. It’s also Jonathan Barrett’s first writing credit for The Tangent, and I think he did a damn good job.  It fits very well between the chaos of Mind’s Eye and the humor of the track to come as a solemn interlude of sorts in the center of the album.

Tech Support Guy – I love, love, love this track. As the title suggests, it’s a humorous farce about how all kinds of terrible problems happen when the company tech support guy goes missing for the weekend. In a musical sense, it’s my favorite piece. Andy’s famed hammonds return, and Theo even makes a spirited appearance here with his amazing flutes.

Titanic Calls Carpathia – This has very quickly become one of my favorite Tangent compositions. The piece is a discussion of major events in the development of technology (such as the Titanic and the Appolo 13 mission) interspersed with Tillisonian (I invented an artistic term!) social commentary. Thematically I’m reminded of GPS Culture because it discusses how our technology leads us to places we don’t necessarily need to go, but subjectively it’s very similar to The Wiki Man. Our modern communication technology is absolutely amazing for us, and while there is some bad with the good, the good is stronger.

COMM will be out on September 27^th in Europe and September 26^th in the U.S.

Tracklist:

01. The Wiki Man
02. The Mind’s Eye
03. Shoot Them Down
04. Tech Support Guy
05. Titanic Calls Carpathia

Line-up:

* Andy Tillison – keyboards, vocals
* Jonathan Barrett – bass guitar, vocals
* Luke Machin – guitar, vocals
* Tony Latham – drums

With:

Theo Travis – saxophones, flute
Nick Rickwood played the drums with the band during the Spring 2011 while Tony Latham was away. This includes album COMM.

Links:

Official The Tangent website

Buy album from:

Jaga Jazzist – Le Poisson Rouge, NYC, 03/07/2011

If you haven’t heard of Jaga Jazzist, they’re a Norwegian ten piece electronic jazz fusion ensemble. Or something, I don’t really know what they should be called, and I don’t think they do either. Their most recent album is called One Armed Bandit, and you should totally get it if you know what’s good for you. If you are ALREADY a fan of Jaga Jazzist, you’re probably reading this review to see if they manage to replicate their multi-layered sound on stage.

The answer is no, they don’t manage to do it. They could though, but that would be boring. Why would anyone want to hear them play the same live as they sound in the studio? What is this, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert? Jaga Jazzist doesn’t have HITS to play – shame on you!

What Jaga Jazzist does instead is infinitely multiply their sound to bring the audience a lush, torrential, psycho-symphonic, wall of their trademarked slightly electronic, completely jazzy sound. Everyone on stage was completely bombastic and explosive. Martin Hornveth (the drummer, and the man with whom Nick and I shared an interview a while ago), was the most ferocious of all of his bandmates. He certainly made up for the fact that he was the only one on stage not switching instruments after every song. Well, I said that for emphasis, I think the (electric) bassist (whose name I am finding it impossible to discern) might have retained his for the whole show as well. The two of them play multiple instruments on the albums anyway.

Because there are ten people on stage playing intricate, overlapping rhythms it’s kind of hard for the band to improvise unless they go for a big band solo type deal. There’s bit of this on occasion, but Jaga Jazzist’s main pull is their energy, their bombasticity.

As the band has just wrapped up its current North American tour, I would urge our European readers to check their touring schedule frequently to see when they begin again. In the meantime, I’ll wait for them to return to New York City, and hope it doesn’t take seven years this time.

ProgSphere’s AwesomeCast – Episode 01: Pilot

So here we are, our first ProgSphere podcast! In this cast Nick and I introduce ourselves and our music tastes by playing some of our favorite songs. In the future we will continue to play some of our favorite music, but we will begin to play more and more obscure things. We will also eventually take requests from our loyal listeners, as as long as we have the recordings, that is. We also might end up including some special guests and whatnot. Plans are wide open, really. We can do whatever we want, and we will! Please look below if you wish to see the tracklist, or don’t look if you want it to be a surprise. Either way, the player with whole thing is as you can see shown above this text, link for both the stream and the download are right under this post, so please enjoy!

Tracklist:

01. Miles Davis – Shhh/Peaceful

02. Siena Root – We Are Them

03. Pain of Salvation – Imago (Homines Partus) / Pluvius Aestivus

04. The Tangent – Lost in London

05. Banco del Mutuo Soccorso – L’evoluzione

06. My Brother the Wind – The Mournful Howl of Dawn

07. Beardfish – And the Stone Said: If I Could Speak

08. Opeth – The Baying of the Hounds

09. Return to Forever – Song to the Pharaoh Kings

10. Can – Mother Sky

Links:

http://www.archive.org/details/ProgSphere_sAwesomeCast_1

http://www.ourmedia.org/node/316727

Fromuz – Quartus Artifactus

A quick glance at the tracklist of this album from any Fromuz fan will reveal that this is not a “new album”. Quartus Artifactus, or the “fourth work” of Fromuz, is not new, and yet it is. It is an hour and a half plus of reworkings of previously released music from the band’s relatively short career. While previous albums generally utilized electric instruments, this album went for a mostly acoustic, chamber sound, which sought to emphasize the band’s jazz fusion rather than metal roots.

This approach worked very well on most of the album. Tracks such as Stone Salad, Familiarization Results, Harry Heller Theater, Babylon Dreams, and Crashmind were full of repetitive electronic effects on their original albums that generally gave the music an unorganic, but thoroughly modern feel. These effects are obviously gone on Quartus Artifactus, and this makes the tracks, as I said before, much more organic. The change is enough to make the tracks feel fresh and new even if you’ve listened to the tracks on their previous three albums hundreds of times like I have.

I would say the only thing I didn’t particularly enjoy was the new rendition of Parallels, from Seventh Story. I felt like the original droned on a bit long, and this version somehow managed to amplify that. I feel like if a piece of music is going to be twenty minutes long it should be more dynamic to keep things interesting. The other track from Seventh Story, Desert Circle, doesn’t suffer this same problem. It didn’t on the original album, however, so I guess this makes sense. One thing I do appreciate about the new Parallels is that the theme running through it sounds less like the theme for Rush’s YYZ. I love YYZ, it just seemed odd that it sounded so similar, and I’m glad to hear it altered slightly here.

Overall Quartus Artifactus is different enough from earlier Fromuz albums to certainly be worth a purchase by any of their fans. It’s probably a lot more accessible at the same time, so I would highly recommend it to anyone trying to get into the band’s music. They’re a top quality quality prog fusion band for anyone, and certainly worth checking out.

Tracklist:

1. Stone Salad (13:26)
2. Familiarization Results (7:45)
3. Harry Heller Theater (12:11)
4. Perfect Place (1:37)
5. Parallels (20:01)
6. Influence of Time (10:22)
7. Crashmind (9:57)
8. Desert Circle (15:51)
9. Babylon Dreams (9:38)

Line-up:

* Igor Elizov – keyboards, synths, MIDI, grand piano, voice
* Albert Khalmurzaev – keyboards, synths, 12string guitar,flute
* Vitaly Popeloff – acoustic steel & nylon guitars, voice
* Ali Izmailov – drums, percussion
* Sur’at Kasimov – fretless bass

Links:

http://www.fromuzband.com/

Accordo Dei Contrari – Kublai

It’s a shame Accordo Dei Contrari won’t make it to NEARFest this year, but it’s a shame a lot of good bands won’t make it to NEARFest this year. At least we are lucky enough to be graced with their new album, Kublai, after a four year delay from their last one. Just from listening to the music I can deduce that a lot of the time was taken redefining the band’s sound and otherwise improving the songwriting and musicianship. These aspects of Accordo Dei Contrari have progressed leaps and bounds ahead of their previous album, Kinesis.

While their last album was mostly an interesting 45 minute bit of prog-jazz-fusion, and not much more, Kublai is mature, self-aware, and wonderfully coherent. I liked Kinesis for it’s complex musicianship, and this aspect remains in Kublai. Thankfully it’s much more musically interesting too.

One of the interesting features of Kublai is how much Accordo Dei Contrari seek to show their roots in traditional jazz of the 60’s. This is done quite easily: the first track is a reimagining of Thelonious Monk’s jazz standard Evidence. It isn’t simply a new version, as it’s completely unrecognizable compared to the old one. I would know, Thelonious Monk is one of my favorite composers. Instead, they have taken the complexity and beauty of Thelonious Monk and made his music into their own brand of heavy prog fusion. I would also imagine the track “Dark Magus” is named after the Miles Davis live album of the same name, but don’t quote me on this.

Perhaps the most interesting and surprising thing about Kublai is the addition of a guest vocalist in the form of Richard Sinclair, the quintessentially English vocalist of Canterbury bands Hatfield and the North, Caravan, and many more. This inclusion for the track “L’Ombra di un Sogno” (shadow of a dream) is a clear indication of their musical progression. Though the fusion complexity remains, the track is actually a ballad to Sinclair’s beloved dog, who remains nameless. There’s actually picture of Richard with the dog in the album notes, and he looks a lot like my dog, Fudge!

Musically I would say my favorite track is the longest, the twelve minute Arabesque. This piece is an excellent indication of the band’s musical progression – the rhythms and themes present are leaps and bounds ahead of anything on Kinesis.

While Accordo Dei Contrari are clearly a jazz fusion band at heart, there is very little to them that is overtly jazzy. I would recommend them to any average prog rock fan. A track from their previous album was included on our fourth Progstravaganza compilation, so I would recommend you check that track out and imagine music that’s much grander, more complex, more interesting. Having done so, ignore everything you’d just listened to and buy Kublai anyway. It’s worth it.

Tracklist:

1. G.B. Evidence
2. Arabesque
3. Dark Magus
4. L’Ombra di un Sogno*
5. Più Limpida e Chiara di Ogni Impressione Vissuta, part I
6. Battery Park

Links:

http://www.accordodeicontrari.com/

Nemo – R€volu$ion

Nemo is one of the most original “pure prog” bands in recent years. They, along with Beardfish, The Tangent, and a handful of others, are one of the few prog bands (and one of the few ROCK bands) I still listen to nowadays. They have managed to embrace the spirit of prog rock and retain their edge without succumbing to the awful post-modernism of modern prog. I am, of course, referring to the horrible self-awareness of prog, it’s tendency to obsess over itself. Nemo is certainly aware of its genre, but this notion is regarded with ambivalence more than anything else. Yes, for better or for worse, there was ample Dream Theater influence when they were starting out (for example), but Jean-Pierre Louveton has never played in the same soulless, blazingly fast style of Jean Petrucci, or sang with the same Robert Plantesque screeching androgyny as James LeBrie. He sings in thick, guttural French, so uncommonly heard in prog rock or even rock in general. It’s a refereshing change, to say the least, even if prog is not unfamiliar with other Indo-European languages such as the slightly more common Swedish and the much more common Italian (not to mention the ubiquitous English).

Nemo have gone quite far past their beginnings, which, as I said before, were rooted in a great deal of Dream Theater influence.  They’ve progressed subtly from album to album, with the end result of R€volu$ion being much more symphonic, yet retaining a heaviness that Nemo has always managed to attain without being able to be labeled hard rock or metal. They can’t really be described as “symphonic prog” either. Instead they’re much more aptly labeled as “modern prog rock”, playing in the same incredibly complex, high-energy style as bands like The Tangent. This is R€volu$ion in a nutshell, but there are many other elements. There are dreamy flute sections, sweeping symphonic instrumental parts, and even some folksy bagpipes that lend the album a Celtic air at times. Perhaps the band is attempting to connect themselves to their Gallic cousins of ancient times, the Celtic inhabitants of France before Caesar committed his genocide and all but wiped them off of the European mainland.

I’m reaching quite a bit, especially since I don’t speak French, but there is certainly an air of defiance about the album. No doubt this is related to the album’s obvious subject, revolution. The different currency signs in the album’s name make the subject and its inspiration obvious: The Global Economic Crisis. The world is currently in a state of transition, and people across Europe, the Americas, and especially the Middle East are waking up to the problems of their governments. That an album by a French band with such a subject was released now is no coincidence – it is an embodiment of the zeitgeist of the new millennium.

Overall the music does not bring a more aggressive tone to Nemo’s ouvre. If anything the album is more pensive and symphonic than before. Grander, with more thought behind it. This is not a punk albim, calling for an anarchic proletarian revolution without any thought behind it. This is an album about the pain of our times, but with the beautiful inspiration of music to guide us and show us what could be possible if we changed our ways. I hope I’m right about that, I don’t understand the French lyrics, after all!

Tracklist:

1. Liberté, Egalité, Insurrection ! (2:23)
2. Je suis un objet (5:43)
3. Révolu$ion (5:08)
4. Aux portes du paradis (2:21)
5. Seul dans la foule (9:36)
6. Chiens en laisse (5:35)
7. Loins des yeux (Barbares parties VIII a XII) (24:30)
8. Notes pour plus tard..(6:43)

Line-up:

* Guillaume Fontaine – keyboards, vocals
* Lionel B. Guichard – bass, vocals
* Jean Pierre Louveton – guitar, lead vocals
* Jean Babtiste Itier – drums, vocals

Links:

http://www.nemo-world.com/

Syrinx

Dan: Hello Syrinx, thanks for doing this interview. How are you doing?

Benjamin: Very well, thank you!

Dan: From what I understand the band took its name from the Greek Myth of a nymph who was turned into reeds to escape from the god Pan’s amorous clutches (to put it mildly). Apparently Pan turned the reeds into a pan flute once he discovered what had happened. This certainly explains your beautifully haunting use of flutes! Are you guys a fan of Greek myth? Do you find it inspirational?

Philippe: Syrinx is the name given by Ancient Greeks to an entity – or a nymph – who existed long before them, and who was given several names in other civilisations. She is among the more than twenty nymphs serving Artemis (who will later be named Diane by the Romans). According to the Greeks, being the Music Godess is one of Artemis’ attributes. Syrinx’s talent allows her to impress upon us by means of vibrations yielded by the harmony of sounds. She is somewhat our muse, our source of inspiration.

Dan: Let’s talk abstract philosophy for a moment. Your first album is titled “Reification”, meaning “to bring into being or make concrete”, i.e., to make an idea physical. This is a perfect title for music in general, in my opinion: music is simply that, taking the idea of a sound and making it real. Yet at the same time, it remains an idea because it cannot be touched, even if it undeniably exists. Thus the title of your second album, “Qualia”, which is Latin for “What sort”. In my interpretation, you’re saying you’re bringing something abstract to concretion, yet its state is still impossible to define. Tell me your thoughts on this.

Dave: You are right of course, Reification could apply to any album, or any creation. Behind our trilogy (Reification, Qualia, and Exaptation) lies the connections between ideas and the fabrication of reality, and the fascinating process of the mind’s world leaking into reality. This is more applied philosophy if you wish . Concretely, it is always a struggle when it comes to finding a title for an album. As for the music, we try to avoid things that would connect too much the project with routine experience. We wish the music to be an adventure, and what’s best than providing titles for which no one has experiences (well, we did not), and for which one will be free to draw his/her personal landscape? Anyway, we were happy with Reification and Qualia, as they properly convey these perhaps unsettling feelings. Indeed, we see the album (and first song of the album) Reification as Syrinx’ message breaking into our reality. You can take that literally if you believe in a higher hierarchy of things and beings (very present in the mythical and esoteric texts that can be related to Syrinx, and on which we dwell on many titles in Reification), or as a pragmatic view of causes (mind’s state) and effects (a mp3 of Syrinx in your player . The album Qualia is about one’s mind’s states, and as you say, the maybe intrinsic impossibility to define properly what goes through the filter of our mind. None of us has a philosophical degree, so we may use slightly inappropriately these concepts, but they are interesting nonetheless. In Qualia, we interpret several texts/sources as the subjective view of other human beings (at different epochs) confronted to Syrinx, or to the spirit’s world. We may say that the trilogy is our own concretisation of a myth that evaded differently many people over the ages. Exaptation is the last piece of Syrinx’ message. It will partly concede that, all things considered, music, art, life… keeps repeating itself over and over. But this is not all, because as you go through, you change things around as much as they change you. In the process, the complexity of you “thinking the world” increases. Sometimes, it is for nothing, but more often it may bring you to a further level of understanding (you never know beforehand). That’s the spirit of our metamorphic music, that you can take as far as you wish to.

Dan: I clearly got carried away with those last two questions, but I certainly love both Greek myth and philosophy… Anyway, something simpler: how and when did the band form? Tell me something about how this occurred.

Dave: Syrinx really started in 1999. About the meeting… several guys in a room sharing some common interest, the will to try something different. To end up in the same room, that’s the tricky part maybe: call it destiny, sheer luck, Syrinx’s will, chaos, or good planning ahead After that, all you need is to let the music flow.

Dan: The music Syrinx makes is a delicate yet tumultuous blend of many different styles of progressive rock, and certainly plenty of other things. The end result is somewhat chaotic yet incredibly refined heavy jazz fusion. What are some of the influences of the band members that conspire together to create this musical blend?

Benjamin: The music in this project is directly connected with what Syrinx inspires us. But of course each one of us has his own references and influences: it goes from 70s progressive rock to classical music, pop music (a little!), traditional music… The musical ideas come easily and we have many “fragments” available, but putting all of them together, in order to obtain something that sounds cohesive to us, and performing it asks us a lot of work. Thus, we take a long time between each album, but it is the necessary time to make them as we want them.

Sam: We simply try to create music of our own, so we can’t really speak about “influences”. We all are very open minded concerning music (Inspiration doesn’t belong to a specific genre) so once again, humbly, we’re striving to be ourselves…

Dan: Tell me about some of the equipment you use for recording and playing live (if you do that).

Sam: the first demo has been recorded on a 16 tracks Roland digital recorder, the first album on a 24 tracks direct to disc (Roland VS2480), and the second album on 2 coupled VS 2480 and a computer. The main concern is the gigantic number of elements Philippe is playing on (drums). Luckily, we own the recording equipment (thanks mum!) which allows us to take as long as it takes to get things “right” on the album. Songs are very complex and we all are very compulsive concerning getting the best of ourselves. Recording is often where our wishes crashes into reality!

Benjamin: It takes years between each album, and in the meantime, audio equipments evolve a lot. So far, we did everything with our own equipment. We record every part separately, and sometimes, alone. The mixing has been done through a pair of Roland VS-2480, but we have to discuss this point anew for the next album! For the keyboards, I find virtual synths to be very useful to get richer sounds and for a better blend into the mix, but to play live I prefer to rely on “solid” keys only!

Dan: I believe you mentioned to me that you have a third album in the works – anything to say about that?

Sam: Due to personal commitments, we haven’t been able to play much in 2009/2010. Luckily, things have changed and now, ⅔ of “Exaptation” is now written. We’ll use voices a bit more on this album. As we are becoming somewhat better musicians and better human beings, this album will hopefully reflect more beauty. Complex beauty as always! As a matter of fact, I think we’re just happy to play music that is far from everything else that can be heard. We’re “different”, and that’s a big achievement I think in the present days.

Dan: Ever been offered to play at any major prog rock festivals? I’d love to see you guys in the States sometime, perhaps at NEARFest.

Benjamin: To be honest, we’d love to play live… but when you play such an “introspective” music in France, there are not so many opportunities! For other countries, it’s in general rarely possible to get a proper financial support despite the best will of some organisers. So we just decided some time ago not to lose money to play! For the time being, we spend all our efforts on writing and recording.

Sam: We played once in Paris for the Tritonales. We had to declined another invitation for the Prog’sud festival (France) due to the fact that the drum set was to big (true story). We would love to play in festivals, but as a sub-sub-sub genre of the “progressive” scene, we’re not organisers’ main priority I guess…

Dave: More to the point these last years, our lives were busy enough and our bank accounts empty enough to prevent us touring around the world! But this may change in the future, who knows? I’d love to share more of Syrinx’ music live, and playing at NEARfest would be great!

Dan: I think I’m out of questions, anything more to say?

Syrinx: Thank you for your interest in the band, thank you for all the Syrinx followers out there: “Elevez-vous au dessus de tout temps, devenez Aeon”!!

A Journey Through Fusion Part Two: The First Generation

While in my last article on jazz fusion I discussed the “father” of jazz fusion, Mr. Miles Dewey Davis, in this one I will be going over the next step in the logical progression – those fusion bands that immediately preceded him. In a way to simulate the growth of the style across the early 70’s, this article series has an increasing number of artists. The previous simply discussed Davis, and this one discusses seven (including a few albums and bands related to the main bands being discussed). The articles that will come later will have many more bands, so fret not. The bands being included here were made up of members, or at least guided strongly by members who were part of the sessions that crafted In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, and many of the other albums discussed in the previous article.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Weather Report

Weather Report was led primarily by Joe Zawinul, a Viennese native. Mr Zawinul, assisting Miles, composed much of the music on In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew before parting ways with him to form his own band. This implies two things, one of which is true and one of which is false. The first thing, which is true, is pretty obvious: the guy is a master composer, and quite capable of coming up with great stuff. The second thing is: well, doesn’t Weather Report’s music sound like In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew then? Of course not! This is jazz we’re talking about! Anything that sounds like anything else is instantly labeled as derivative crap. Weather Report’s music went through three distinct eras of good music, and then possibly a few more or something. For the purposes of this article, the band skipped five years after 1977 and then NEVER PRODUCED ANYTHING ELSE! You may feel free to look those albums up on your own and disagree with me, but I don’t like them and I don’t see them as relevant to this article.

Before I mention the eras, I’ll just point out that there were a TON of members of Weather Report other than Joe Zawinul, many of whom may have been equally, or in fact more important than him at certain points. Because of how frequently the lineup tended to change, I’m not really going to get into this, but I will point out that some incredibly talented musicians passed through the band and composed here: Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson, Miroslav Vitous, and many more people.

Weather Report’s first era consisted of their selftitled 1971 album Weather Report and the awesomely titled I Sing the Body Electric. This era was marked by a high degree of avant-garde experimentation. I’m not talking yodeling or aggressive dissonance, but rather elements of free jazz and the like. For this reason these two albums are not my favorite, but I’m sure there are some of you who would enjoy them. Enter with caution, for as I said, they are HIGHLY experimental.

Weather Report’s second era is much more enjoyable than the first. This encompasses Sweetnighter, Mysterious Traveller, and Tail Spinnin’. These albums go in a much more funk-fusion direction, which is a welcome reprieve from the annoying avant-garde stuff from before, in my opinion. This music, while excellent, isn’t quite on the same level as what would come just after. It’s sort of a transitional stage, though a rather sudden one as there are no hints of the previous era in the music contained here. The transition lies in the increasing inclusion of funk and African elements, such as on the track “Nubian Sundance” from Mysterious Traveller.

The final era worth mentioning basically consists of Black Market and Heavy Weather. The former is much preferable to the latter, and is definitely one of the finest fusion albums of the early era, if not of all time. The playing and compositionship are remarkable, and the style presented is simply much more innovative than the music shown on the past three albums. It’s a sort of “afro-funk-fusion”, with a heavy emphasis on the syrupy fender rhodes of Mr. Joe Zawinul.

Weather Report is probably the most accessible of the bands presented in this article (and possibly in the entire series), and for that reason I find them a bit boring at times. I feel like because of their relative lack of innovation (at least compared to Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra) they were left behind as an inspiration to future composers in favor of the energy of the other two. However – till excellent, still recommended.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Herbie Hancock

I’m going to come right out and say that I find Herbie the least interesting of all of the groups mentioned in this article. He has a few really great albums, though some of them are not relevant to the history of jazz fusion. He seems to be incredibly highly regarded at places like ProgArchives, though I’m not entirely sure why. I certainly don’t hate his music, but it just seems dull in a way.

Hancock is, like all of the others, very talented and naturally played on a few of the Davis albums presented in the previous article. Unlike all of the others, he decided to work most closely with Davis’ experimental style, though went in a slightly more ambient, keyboard-driven direction. He produced three albums in the early 70’s in the style that I’m talking about: Mwandishi, Crossings, and Sextant. They’re all incredibly pleasant, to be sure, but I don’t get the same sort of manic energy that I do from Davis. They aren’t dull though, and I do enjoy them on occasion. I suppose I’m not the person
to ask if you want suggestions on Herbie’s earlier fusion material.

Otherwise, his next era consisted of some pretty good funk-fusion in the form of Headhunters, Thrust, and Machild. Headhunters is one of the highest-regarded fusion albums of all time for some reason. It’s pretty good, but no Black Market… When I said before that Hancock is talented, I meant it – but I’ll also say that I think he’s incredibly overrated. Headhunters probably only got the fame it did because he was already famous. I didn’t mean to turn this section of the article into an indictment against Hancock, so I will say that these albums are definitely worth checking out if you want some high quality funk fusion that doesn’t rub the funk in your face.

Hancock is probably less important to the further development of fusion than even Weather Report. Few bands would seek to emulate his sweeping soundscape fusion style, though many would undoubtedly seek inspiration from Headhunters. He is still worth discussing and even checking out, however, but I would only recommend you do so if you’re a fan of the other bands being discussed here. That said, check out Maiden Voyage if you’re into “pure jazz”.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Mahavishnu Orchestra

If Weather Report was a crunchy, syrupy sweet baklava fresh from an Athenian kitchen, Mahavishnu Orchestra is a rare, bloody porterhouse steak straight from a dingy kitchen off of a Texas highway in cattle country. This is the kind of steak you rip into with a giant serrated knife and sate your carnal needs over an hour of ferocious chewing. Mahavishnu Orchestra was refined, with a funky bass and controlled Fender Rhodes as its main features. Mahavishnu Orchestra is a chaotic, fiery devil replete with guitar, keyboard, and violin interplay juxtaposed together on top of what is perhaps the most intense drumming the world has ever seen. Now don’t get ahead of me, because there’s nothing avant-garde about Mahavishnu Orchestra. The sound was still completely new to jazz, but it wasn’t all that different from things that had been heard before in other places.

Mahavishnu Orchestra was led by the guitarist John McLaughlin – perhaps the person who played on more Miles Davis fusion albums than anyone other than Davis himself. He even had a track named after him on Bitches Brew (the favor was returned in kind on a McLaughlin solo album). Like Zawinul, the music here is completely different from anything Davis made. What Davis’ disciples ended up learning is not a new style of jazz, but that jazz music can be played with the intensity of rock, and with rock instruments. That was the lesson McLaughlin took to heart more than any other Davis disciples. Intensity.

If there’s one 70’s jazz fusion band prog fans are going to be familiar with, it’s bound to be Mahavishnu Orchestra. This is because MO are more similar to prog (overall, though there are some exceptions), than any other jazz artists during their main era. Because this era was much more stable than Weather Report’s, I am going to mention the key players. On guitar we have John McLaughlin, on violin we have Jerry Goodman, on keys we have Jan Hammer, on bass we have Rick Laird, and on drums we have Billy Cobham. Many of these people will pop up in future articles, especially Hammer and Cobham. They are the quintet that made up Mahavishnu Orchestra as most people know it, and they created some damn good music as they did.

The albums this lineup made are three or fourfold, depending on who you ask. There’s 1971’s The Inner Mounting Flame, and there’s 1973’s Birds of Fire. Many people compare these two albums, but I find it too difficult. They are both excellent, and absolutely indispensible for any fusion collection. Between Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire we have Between Nothingness and Eternity. This was technically a live album released that has material not on any studio album… except for The Lost Trident Sessions, which was never completed, but released later in 1993. The material on Between Nothingness and Eternity is all on The Lost Trident Sessions, but altered and shortened. Both are excellent, but I would recommend the live version instead.

As stated before, this era was characterized by the interplay between John, Jerry, and Jan on strings and keys played over Rick and Billy’s rhythm section. The results are indescribable, but rest assured everything is quite intense. All of the musicians appear to be going in every direction at once, yet at the same time everything remains tight and melodious.

This era didn’t last very long. Apparently the band got a little creeped out with the “spiritual direction” McLaughlin wanted to take. I’m not here to speculate on that, and I also don’t care. Either way, he quickly reformed Mahavishnu Orchestra with an all-new lineup that included a few people I don’t know anything about, as well as violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. This lineup would release two albums – both at least pretty good, though one much better than the other.

They were called Apocalypse and Visions of an Emerald Beyond. The former almost seems to go in a symphonic prog direction. It’s very weird, yet at the same time rather highly rated around the internet. I’m not a huge fan, but I’m ok with recommending it. Just keep in mind it isn’t anything like any other MO albums. Visions of an Emerald Beyond, on the other hand, is rather similar to the first era, just with the difference of having the same, strangely symphonic lineup as Apocalypse. The result is a hybrid blend of the two eras that ends up pretty damn great, if I may say so. It doesn’t have the aggressive interplay, but it sure does have a bite. It also has some chanting, and that’s pretty cool too.

I would highly recommend Mahavishnu Orchestra to anyone. They are intense, melodious, crazy, yet calculatingly sane. They are of special importance to prog rock fans because they’ve influenced so many people and bands. I’m not going to name names, but they know who they are. Certainly get The Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire. If you like those check out Visions of an Emerald Beyond and Between Nothingness and Eternity. There are some albums that were released after Visions, but they were made on an entirely unrelated lineup and I’ve read that they’re complete crap and I’ve never bothered to see if that’s true or not.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Honorable Mention

McLaughlin, like so many of his contemporaries, was incredibly active in the 70’s. He ended up releasing a great deal of non-MO fusion albums that are certainly worth checking out. They aren’t much like MO, and in fact they generally aren’t much like anyone else’s fusion either. I would highly recommend his early albums Extrapolation and Devotion, but especially the latter. Additionally, McLaughlin has released a few new fusion albums in very recent years. The style is almost a bit like MO, but entirely different at the same time. There’s a lot of Indian influence in these albums (which MO touched upon but Shakti embodied). The albums are Industrial Zen, Floating Point, and To the One. Highly recommended all, but start with Mahavishu Orchestra.

But wait, there’s more! McLaughlin had yet another band in the 70’s that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. This was Shakti, and unlike Mahavishnu Orchestra, which sought in some ways to play elements of Indian classical music inside of jazz, this group sought to play jazz inside of Indian classical music. I’m not sure if this is technically fusion. I’m not really sure what it is, actually, but it’s pretty damn good. Check out Shakti with John McLaughlin, A Handful of Beauty, and Natural Elements if you want to know more.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Return to Forever

Weather Report is a crunchy sweet baklava, Mahavishnu Orchestra is a bloody steal, and Return to Forever is a swimming pool of maple syrup floating in the outer reaches of the solar system. Astral, cosmic, beautiful. Can you all tell that Return to Forever is one of my favorite bands of all time?

Return to Forever had two distinct eras, the latter of which had no overall theme to it. The first era released two albums, the selftitled Return to Forever and then Light as a Feather, which contains Chick Corea’s jazz standard Spain. This era almost isn’t jazz fusion. It’s more like Cuban-Brazilian proto-fusion, or something like that. Call it what you want, this era’s two albums contain some startlingly beautiful music, characterized by Corea’s Fender Rhodes and Joe Farrel’s flute. Unfortunately there are some vocals by a woman named Flora Purim. She has a nice voice, but I can’t stand vocals in jazz (or even in other kinds of music, for the most part). Thankfully she doesn’t sing very much, and you get to hear more Fender Rhodes and flutes than anything else. Overall, the music is very calming and astral, but at moments it picks up and soars to the heavens, as Chick Corea’s music tends to do.

After Light as a Feather, Corea decided to go full-blown fusion, and created a quartet. He got rid of the wind instruments, percussion, and vocals, and added a drummer (Lenny White) and electric guitarist (Bill Connors). The only member other than himself to stay was young bassist Stanley Clarke. This lineup released the amazing Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy in 1973. Like Light as a Feather, Hymn included what would become another of Corea’s famous jazz standards – this time the super awesome Senor Mouse. Corea borrowed some of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s intensity for this new take on fusion, and scrapped the old calmness entirely. The soaring astralness (is that even a word?) remained, but it took on whole new dimensions. It was achieved not via the interplay between flute and keyboards, but rather with the whole band acting as a complete unit. There doesn’t need to be talk of interplay anymore – everything simply fit.

Bill Connors’ tenure with Return to Forever was not destined to be. He quit pretty quick and was replaced by a fresh young talent named Al Di Meola. The man is pretty famous now, but he got his start here. He quickly showed that he was more than capable of living up to Bill Connors’ skill, and he would remain until Return to Forever disbanded. Thus, the lineup was solidified.

They soon recorded one of my favorite albums of all time – Where Have I Known You Before. This is Return to Forever’s most varied albums, and it is entirely different from Hymn. It starts with a very funky piece composed by Stanley Clarke, contains many light piano solo interludes, and concludes with a fifteen minute, incredibly cosmic epic titled Song to the Pharaoh Kings. This track really makes you feel like you’re swimming in a pool of maple syrup on the rings of Saturn. I don’t even know what else to say. Please do yourself a favor and listen to the entire thing on Youtube.

No Mystery came next. Highly eclectic, it was composed in plurality. Every member of the band contributed, and this was its failure. Except for some occasional accidents, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White are not good composers. Al Di Meola is an EXCELLENT composer, but he didn’t seem to give it his all on this record. He was probably saving what he could for the string of solo albums he just began to release around this time. Corea’s compositions were excellent as usual, but they were few and far between compared to other albums. It’s still a good record, but not nearly as good as the others.

The last Return to Forever album was Romantic Warrior. This album went in a similar symphonic direction as Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Apocalypse, but with much better results. No vocals this time, for one thing. For another thing, it had the same lineup as No Mystery and Where Have I known You Before. It’s almost like Corea decided to take Song to the Pharoah Kings and take it in a more symphonic direction, almost eliminating the cosmic syrup. This style worked quite well, and it ensured Return to Forever stayed fresh. However I don’t enjoy it as much as the others. The highlight of this album is again the ending track, the ten minute Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant. This features (you guessed it) a duel between Di Meola and Chick Corea, alternating mini-solos.

Return to Forever are certainly the most influential of all the main four jazz fusion groups, at least in terms of jazz fusion itself. Chick Corea’s compositions influenced an entire generation of jazz fusion musicians across the globe. In terms of prog, it is more likely that Mahavishnu Orchestra was more important, but Romantic Warrior certainly left its mark on prog as well.

To reiterate, I highly recommend Where Have I Known You Before and Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy first and foremost, in that order. Feel free to check out the first era as well, but the “real fusion” era is much more important, in my opinion. Also worth checking out, but not mentioned, is the recent reunion tour live album, Return to Forever Returns.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Honorable Mention

Like McLaughlin, Chick Corea released countless solo albums, many of which can be put under the fusion label. He also had another band, called the Chick Corea Elektric Band. The albums from that band are heavily synthesized 80’s stuff, but there’s still some pretty good music in there if you can tolerate all the synths. Besides that, probably Chick Corea’s best solo album (in my opinion) is My Spanish Heart. This album is an hour of pure latin fusion, and it’s quite excellent. Like with McLaughlin, don’t expect it to be like his band. He separated solo from band to a strong degree. Still excellent though, and worth checking out.

So there we have it, the big four. The people who set the stage for what would come next. After this we’ll be examining the so-called “second generation”, though they only began to record a few years after these guys did. The sections in the next article will be much smaller, so don’t worry about having to read too much.

Hiromi Uehara – Voice

I think Hiromi Uehara is one of the most important names in jazz fusion in early 21^st century. Unlike many other artists she continues to evolve and redefine her style to the point where fulfilling the implications of the latter becomes impossible. She’s a perfect storm of technical talent and musical creativity. She blends disparate elements of classical music, bebop, jazz fusion, and prog rock together like no one else has before.

Unlike her last album, which was pure solo piano, her new album takes her back to the piano trio format of Spiral and Another Mind, though on the latter there were guests and the style was much more intense. Indeed, Spiral is the album that Voice evokes the most, though they don’t sound entirely too similar. I should point out that Spiral is possibly my favorite album of hers, with my favorite track being “Old Castle”. Spiral was, for the most part, rather reserved and many of the tracks were jazz epics that had a slow buildup. Voice is not structured the same way, though the music is similarly reserved in many cases.

This album boasts a new “band” called the Trio Project, though as noted before it’s still a simple piano trio format. The bassist is the renowned Anthony Jackson, who worked with Al Di Meola on his landmark trio of fusion albums in the 70’s. He’s worked with tons of people over the years, and indeed played on Hiromi’s previous albums Another Mind and Brain (though in the former only as a guest). The drummer is the equally wonderful Simon Phillips, who is possibly somewhat better-known for playing metal than jazz. He has worked with Derek Sherinian on quite a few of his recent solo albums, as well as even the likes of Judas Priest on their old album Sin after Sin. I still remember Diamonds and Rust from my days as a teenager when I still enjoyed NWBHM. Hiromi, Jackson, and Phillips complement each other in incredible ways. Hiromi brings almost a Third-Stream finesse, Jackson brings pure jazz fusion through the bass, and Phillips brings the intensity of metal drumming, though with the obvious skill of someone who knows the difference between Return to Forever’s “Excerpt From the First Movement of Heavy Metal” and Iron Maiden’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name”.

I would highly recommend this album to anyone and everyone. In Hiromi’s own marvelous, way, she manages to make jazz fusion sound almost like symphonic prog, though it obviously isn’t remotely similar. There are bits of bebop, pure jazz fusion, funk, whatever the hell you like, it shows up, but you never notice the difference.

The only downside is that the album doesn’t come out in the U.S. or Europe for a looooong time! I’m not sure where the release dates are listed, however. It’s been out in Japan for a short time though, so you can probably get an import copy if you want to pay extra. Or just wait, I think it’s worth it either way.

Tracklist:

1. Voice (9:13)
2. Flashback (8:39)
3. Now or Never (6:16)
4. Temptation (7:54)
5. Labyrinth (7:40)
6. Desire (7:19)
7. Haze (5:54)
8. Delusion (7:47
9. Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8, Pathetique (5:13)

Next Page »