Fusion
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
Munia/The Tale
Verve
Heaven knows what Universal is up to these days. Under the patina of respectability afforded by its "heritage" signings (Wayne Shorter, Shirley Horn, Michael Brecker, etc), the company's real marketing push is on crossover sales, meaning jazz albums with...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
Mercury
Cuneiform Records
Curlew has been around since 1979, and its recorded legacy, if nothing else, reveals that being persistently iconoclastic is not easy. Mercury (Cuneiform) is the band's ninth album and quite possibly its best. Curlew's music has awkward edges, and Dean Granros...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
All That
Cuneiform Records
In Cahoots has been around for a while now and comprises a collection of unique personalities associated with the British experimental rock scene of the '70s such as guitarist Phil Miller (Matching Mole, Hatfield & the North) and saxophonist Elton Dean...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
CAB4
Favored Nations
Shades of the '70s are again apparent on CAB4 (Favored Nations), an album of well-executed, if delightfully superficial, electric jazz. Full of spectacular flourishes and ballsy solos, it has Brian Auger (of Trinity fame) on keyboards, drummer Dennis Chambers...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
Rebirth
Sonance
Children on the Corner is a band of musicians associated with Miles Davis' electric period including Michael Henderson, Ndugu Chancler, Sonny Fortune, Badal Roy, Barry Finnerty plus keyboard player Michael Wolff (the only non-Miles man, though he's notched...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
All Night Wrong
Favored Nations
Incredibly, All Night Wrong (Favored Nations) is Allan Holdsworth's first "official" live album, made at the Roppongi Pit Inn in Japan in May 2002, with two longtime collaborators, former Zappa drummer Chad Wackerman and bassist Jimmy Johnson. Holdsworth...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
Extraction
Tone Center
Greg Howe's Extraction (Tone Center) is fusion with a capital F, but not the sort that has had the blood sucked out of it. Instead it brings some of the adventurous spirit inherent in the original jazz-rock concept. It's an album of often-complicated heads...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
Spiral Out
DIW
Guitarist Willie Oteri doesn't resort to Greg Howe's flash but he does evoke the feel of the early jazz-rock sessions by the likes of Miles Davis and Tony Williams Lifetime on Sprial Out (DIW). Ephraim Owens has the Miles role and effectively fixes the musical...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
Portrait of Jaco: The Early Years
Holiday Park Records
Portrait of Jaco: The Early Years 1968-1978 (Holiday Park) is a valuable and fascinating documentary of the master bassist's early years. It begins with the earliest known recording of Jaco Pastorius playing drums, the instrument on which he began his career...
March 2004 By Stuart Nicholson
Front Page
Sunnyside
The ubiquitous Dennis Chambers makes another appearance on Front Page (Sunnyside), a trio date with the French guitar virtuoso Bireli Lagrene and bassist Dominique Di Piazza. One of the most astonishing guitar players in the tradition of the late Django...
