Fused
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Undefined Psych-Chromatic G.R.I.D.
Planet Bass NYC
Bass virtuoso John Carey calls his music "organized chaos" in the CD liner notes, and this live date ventures outside about as far as anything that's come my way in recent memory. Indeed, benchmarks commonly used to evaluate improvisational sessions don...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
The King Crimson Songbook, Vol. One
Voiceprint
The Crimson Jazz Trio's lineup of pianist Jody Nardone, bassist Tim Landers and drummer Ian Wallace has been careful not to distort King Crimson's melodies, but they do lots of tinkering, restructuring and harmonic adjustments on Songbook. Songs like "21st...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Soleil 12
Cuneiform Records
The Forgas Band Phenomena's latest release blurs idiomatic considerations so extensively they render stylistic definitions irrelevant. No one can accuse bandleader and principal composer Patrick Forgas of being tame or conservative in his writing and arrangements...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Blueberry Cave
Harmonized Records
The San Francisco band Garaj Mahal will never be accused of stylistic timidity. Indeed, they try so many things on Blueberry Cave that sometimes they get too ambitious. Kai Eckhardt is a fantastic bassist, one of fusion's finest groove players, but he's...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Thanks for Flying With Us
Cuneiform Records
Swedish multi-instrumentalists Mats Oberg and Morgan Agren mix funky, groove-oriented influences with aspects of trance, rock, jam band and 4/4 jazz on Thanks for Flying With Us. The 16-track CD contains studio and live cuts, and the best pieces are those...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Airback
Cuneiform Records
Former Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper's current band, NDIO, offers some exciting pieces on Airback, though the insertion of distracting samples sometimes detracts from rather than improves the composition. That's particularly true on "Stromboli," where...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Organik
Magna Carta Records
At its best, Niacin's surging, highly personalized music is almost as frenetic and sophisticated as that crafted by the late B3 master Larry Young. While that's high praise, there are at least 10 tracks among the 13 featured selections from Organik that...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Love Press Ex-Curio
Nashville keyboardist and bandleader Charlie Peacock has amassed such a reputation as a gospel and pop producer as well as a session player that his early roots in jazz aren't widely known. Peacock revisits his jazz heritage here with a set that won't excite...
December 2005 By Ron Wynn
Gospel for J.F.P. III:Tribute to Jaco Pastorius
MoonJune Records
The songs on this tribute that will most remind listeners of electric-bass giant Jaco Pastorius' greatness are those featuring guitarist Hiram Bullock or bassists John Patitucci and Marcus Miller. Bullock teams with fellow guitarist Bireli Lagrene and the...
November 2005 By Ron Wynn
Eudemonic
SCI Fidelity
Although a majority of the material on guitarist Steve Kimock's new re-lease Eudemonic doesn't qualify as jazz in even the loosest sense of the term, it's clearly improvisational and edgy. Kimock moves in and out of numerous genres during these nine pieces...
