Heavy Psychedelia this time merged with Electric Jazz with consistent Miles Davis aroma. References to key recordings or artists/bands of Rock/Metal/Psychedelic or Jazz were always incorporated in their works, but never so directly referential as this time. You need balls, or talent, or both to enter the musical world previously build by Davis, John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Wayne Shorter, Bennie Maupin, and the list is extremely long and filled only with valuable artist. But these Japanese sonic samurais, got balls, got talent, but also the healthy craziness necessary for genuine creation.
“Son Of Bitches A Brew” – with it’s a clear reference to Frank Zappa as well – will not be an easy walk through some sunny sound fields, AMT are delivering extremely dense and vivid incursions into the outer limits of the known musical universe, they not only merging genres, but radically different layers and sounds mostly in the same song their building.
With Kawabata Makoto raging on his guitar, Shimura Koki smashing to pieces his drum kit, Tsuyama Atsushi grinding the bass, Higashi Hiroshi turning his synthesizers inside-out, while Tsuyama Atsushi replacing Wayne Shorter on saxophone, this trip can’t be nothing but dangerously wonderful. Read more Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso UFO – Son Of A Bitches Brew (2012)
jazz
John Zorn – A Vision in Blakelight (2012)
Gathering – once again – a quite selective collective of musicians: Cyro Baptista – Percussion; Joey Baron – Drums; Trevor Dunn – Bass; Carol Emanuel – Harp; John Medeski – Piano and Organ; and Kenny Wollesen – Vibes and Bells; “A Vision in Blakelight” it’s probably one of the most soft, most beautiful and chilled releases of Zorn in years.
Inspired by the spiritual mythology of William Blake, Zorn continue his endless exploration of the mystical work by all the means of the 21st century’s Jazz and contemporary music. This time Zorn is less noisy, less tumultuous and experimental, but further more sensitive and meditative, creating a cinematic groove smoothly flavored by Jazzy rides and the fluorescent play of these extraordinary artist collective. “An Island in the Moon” it’s a pearl, are breathing through standard already. Read more John Zorn – A Vision in Blakelight (2012)
Byzant At Sunset – Bang Ur Head, double EP (2012)
This is Jazzcore, Avant-garde and experimental, genres merging and envelope pusher music, weird for any average, comfortable and conservative listener, but definitively something intriguing and exciting for the people with open mind and open ears, bored of comformities and cliches.
While the album starts quite furiously with a grinding and contorted Tango followed by a genuine Punk classic in the vein of Dead Kennedys twisted into modern contortions and fueled by wildly improvising saxophone solos; the album rides in and out of genres from Post-Rock to Jazz and from Dubstep to Industrial only to quieting down to a Coltrane feel-like Jazzy smooth ballad as a closing act. Anyway, almost like a ballad. With Byzant At Sunset you never can be sure of anything.
An extended play (or EP) is a musical recording that contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full studio album or LP.
This is the second EP by Byzant At Sunset, a double EP actually, but this is really-really an ultra-mega-super extended play while the band delivered 9 original tracks (more then 44 minutes) and 10 plus 1 (hidden bonus) remixes – which are pounding more then 46 minutes.
Totally 95 minutes of music, it’s definitively hell of an extended play!!
The three members of this project are living on different continents, they never been in the same room, not even in the same country ever, but they are playing together. This is an exclusively “via internet” (on-line) collaborative-creative project. One proof of the positive effect and impact of Globalization and technology over humanity. Although they never had the opportunity and pleasure to playing together in the rehearsal room, this music sounds very alive, very fresh, raw and impossible to fit into any genre. Read more Byzant At Sunset – Bang Ur Head, double EP (2012)
Rabih Abou-Khalil – Hungry People (2012)
Jazz, Oriental vibe and an excellent sense of humor. “Music is all about enjoyment and that comes easiest when you laugh” says Rabih Abou-Khalil. Speaking of his new album and his band, Abou-Khalil said: “We’ve been playing together for nearly 16 years now. We know each other very well so, as you will hear, the band is very tight indeed.” This is also a quite multicultural project as well. Abou-Khalil – who plays oud – grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. Saxophonist Gavino Murgia are from Sardinian and sometimes he provide also vocals – for instance listen into “Bankers’ Banquet”. Frenchman Michel Godard is a phenomenal player of the tuba and its ancestor, the serpent, but he also plays bass. Luciano Biondini is a virtuoso Italian accordionist. Jarrod Cagwin sre form Iowa, USA, he is equally masterful with sticks and bare hands, and using both, western drum-kit and to Arabic frame drums.
Their music uses elements from Arab music traditions, together with many Jazz, Rock and classical references, particularly to the school of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, but also other influences include Frank Zappa, Bela Bartok, and such unexpected musicians as the Mighty Sparrow and Lord Kitchener from Trinidad.
Since ’81 Rabih Abou-Khalil released over 20 albums and contributed to many more.
“Hungry People” it’s a direct reference to the “Arab Spring”. Read more Rabih Abou-Khalil – Hungry People (2012)
R.I.P. Dave Brubeck
Born on December 6, 1920 and died of heart failure on December 5, 2012 (same day as Roy Orbison in 1988), David Warren “Dave” Brubeck was an American jazz pianist and composer, considered to be one of the foremost exponents of progressive jazz.
His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the saxophone melody for the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s best remembered piece, “Take Five”, which is in 5/4 time and has endured as a jazz classic on one of the top-selling jazz albums, Time Out. Brubeck experimented with time signatures throughout his career, recording “Pick Up Sticks” in 6/4, “Unsquare Dance” in 7/4, “World’s Fair” in 13/4, and “Blue Rondo à la Turk” in 9/8. He was also a respected composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television. Read more R.I.P. Dave Brubeck
Panzerballett – Tank Goodness (2012)
Their previous album, “Hart Genossen von ABBA bis Zappa” was pointed out as his favourite record of 2009 by Clawfinger guitarist Bård Torstensen. About the same album Dweezil Zappa said: “Very well done. Normally, I don’t like people re-arranging my father’s music but this was a pleasant surprise.” Not at least, Randy Brecker said: “Panzerballett is the first band I’ve heard that really leads Music into the 21st Century!”
So, what Panzerballett are actually playing? This is an intense, extremely technical Jazz-Rock with some powerful Metal infusions. In-your-face type of riffs are smartly built-in into the classy, but modern flavored Jazz-Rock constructions. “Vulgar Display of Sauerkraut” sounds like Pantera versus Al Di Meola (I’m thinking of songs such as “Alien Chase On Arabian Desert”) – eventually. Double-bass drum slaughterings and killer riffs are merged with mystic flavored Jazz breakdowns. Read more Panzerballett – Tank Goodness (2012)
Byzant At Christmas (in the memory of Tibi Blaga)
This one is dedicated to the memory of AB Byzant’s father, Tibor Blaga (9/6/1941-16/11/2012). Rest In Peace!
We proudly present: Byzant At Sunset
Imagine a song which starts as the smoothest John Coltrane song and end up as the most furious The Thing live jam. Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present: Byzant At Sunset.
Atomik Clocks – Magdan in Charleroi (2011)
Literally mind-blowing Funk, some pumping Punk energy and pounding Rock attitude, Atomik Clocks delivering a quite refreshing mixture of Jazz, Funk and Rock, merging the spirit of free, improvised music with the power and weight of experimental spiced, Progressive Rock, eventually reminds me of Morphine.
“Magdan in Charleroi”, their first full-length release is available as digital download for only €3 on their official Bandcamp page, and definitively it worth every single penny of it!!
We’ve got 10 groovy, sometimes pretty Psychedelic taste-like, experimental, but not pointlessly abstract songs, an exciting mixture of styles and approaches, the saxophone playing the main role, but the killer funky bass is equally present while the drums offers the solid bases for these sonic jams. Read more Atomik Clocks – Magdan in Charleroi (2011)
Marcus Miller – Renaissance (2012)
After last years fabulous “Tutu Revisited”, the bass-killer Marcus Miller (age 53) are back with “Renaissance”, 13 tracks of groovy Jazz and bass slappin’ where hard and smooth parts are merged into one as not too many musicians are capable to do. The shade of Miles Davis are constant and discretely present all over, but this is definitively and unmistakably Marcus Miller. Although “Renaissance” is – surprisingly – only his eighth studio project since his 1983 debut, “Suddenly”, Miller spent approximately 15 years performing as a sideman or session musician and he has played bass on over 500 recording on albums across different musical styles from Rock (Donald Fagen and Eric Clapton), to Jazz (George Benson, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Sample, Wayne Shorter and Grover Washington, Jr.), Pop (Roberta Flack, Paul Simon and Mariah Carey), R&B (Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan), Hip Hop (Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg), blues (Z.Z. Hill), New Wave (Billy Idol), Smooth Jazz (Al Jarreau and Dave Koz) and opera (collaborations with tenor Kenn Hicks and soprano Kathleen Battle). Also, as a film music pro, Miller rose from writing the go-go party classic ‘Da Butt’ for Spike Lee’s ‘School Daze’ to becoming the go-to composer for 20+ films (from the documentary 1 Love to the animated children’s fable The Trumpet and The Swan to the Eddie Murphy/Halle Berry classic Boomerang. In the 80’s he had collaborate with Miles Davis on 6 consecutive albums, he produced and wrote wrote “Tutu” for Miles Davis. Read more Marcus Miller – Renaissance (2012)
