XADU, Random Abstract

In the realm of guitar-based fusion, all of course depends on the quality of the improvisations and the freshness of the compositions. We get both with the band XADU and their album Random Abstractions. It showcases the electric guitar excellence of Dusan Jevtovic and the fine drumming of Xavi Reija.

They have two previous albums that were covered on these pages (type in the search box above for the reviews): Dusan with Am I Walking Wrong and Xavi with Dusan and bassist Bernat Hernandez on Resolution. Both albums were very good. As the duet XADU they have moved a step further.

This is metal jazz if you like, with compositions that enliven things considerably and excellent musicianship. Dusan reminds ever so slightly of Terje Rypdal in his advanced harmonic-melodic ingenuity. Xavi drums with fervor and imagination, rocking freely with a pulse that is less tied to bar lines than it is additive and subtractive, which frees up the time and gives Dusan a flexibility in phrasing that allows him literally to take off.

The tunes are the opposite of formulaic. Dusan's "New Pop" has a chord progression that stays in your head uniquely. That may be the high point but it all has substance and innovative qualities.

This is an album that needs to be heard. Guitarists will have much to hear on this one, but everyone who responds to fusion will find something different and very much directionally ahead.

Highly recommended!

Dewa Budjana, Hasta Karma

Indonesian guitar phenom Dewa Budjana launches off to a wonderful place on his latest album, Hasta Karma (MoonJune 070). It may well be his finest yet. The compositions ring out memorably, all penned by Dewa. And the band is an excellent one: Dewa of course on electric guitar, vet ace Joe Locke on vibes, Ben Williams on upright bass, Antonio Sanchez on drums, and special guest Indra Lesmana on keys for most of the album.

This is heady fusion with excellent arrangements, solo space for Locke that gives the trajectory dynamic spacing, a kicking performance from rhythm teammates Williams and Sanchez, and...

Dewa pulls out all the stops for a spectacular guitar performance. He handles lead melody with a beautiful sound, then launches into improvisations that show his maturity as a real-deal stylist at the top of his game. He has chops galore but uses them to shape solos that have some relationship to his Indonesian roots but also the completely internalized fusion guitar tradition as it stands today, refashioned and transformed into his very own thing. His sound projects wonderfully and the choice of notes are simultaneously sophisticated, lyrical and wailing, mostly all at the same time.

Well boys and girls, I do suggest you get this one for seminal modern fusion. Dewa is becoming a master.

Circumstances beyond my control may force me to stop my blogs dead in their tracks, and that in a very short time, though they will remain up here on blogspot regardless. I hope not but in case that is so I wish you all the very best. May you fare well. May the music of humanity inspire you to a higher realm. I will see you tomorrow I suspect. After that I will try to come back as quickly as I can. May the great spirit walk with you on your path through the rest of your life. I thank you for traveling part of that with me.

The Avengers, On A Mission

Beledo is a Uruguyan guitarist of both power and finesse. He and his jazz-rocking outfit The Avengers carry on in fine fashion in the CD release On A Mission (Gudari). The music is in the elaborate modern fusion mode and Beledo is well served by the keys (Adam Holzman), bass (Lincoln Goines) and drums (Kim Plainfield) lineup that comprises the band.

Beledo wrote all the tunes save one (by Marcus Miller), and they are nicely crafted and as note-y as typical of this style today.

Beledo has been solidly influenced by Allan Holdsworth in his group concept and personal sound. But within those confines he excels. He can dazzle you with a blur of notes, then dig in with the sheer sensual properties of his guitar sound. He and Holzman, understandably, are the principal soloists and they work well together, complementing and returning thought with counter-musical thought.

One gets the feeling that this band is working towards its very own way and sound. There is enough there already to suggest it. I look forward to that evolution in sides to come. Meanwhile this one satisfies. Beledo is a true artist of the guitar!

Marc Rossi Group, Mantra Revealed

Marc Rossi has a take on Indian-influenced fusion that is thoroughgoingly sophisticated, eminently musical and well put-together. His Marc Rossi Group recording Mantra Revealed (Innova 816) gives us much to experience, admire, and enjoy. It's a core group of Marc on keys, Lance Van Lenten on tenor and soprano, Bill Urmson on electric bass, and Mauricio Zottarelli on drums and percussion. They are joined in important cameo roles by vocalist Geetha Ramanathan Bennett, and the guitars of Prasanna and Bruce Arnold.

This is the sort of fusion that derives its principal thrust from the compositional-arranging prowess of Mr. Rossi. The finely enthusiastic performances in general and the appropriate idiomatic solos from tenor, piano, vocals and guitars give the music depth and drive.

"Jazz Impression of a Kriti" starts off the program with great strength, taking an Indian Kriti (Carnatic compositional element) and transforming it into a well turned fused onslaught in ten with some remarkable guitar work by Prasanna, who plays a nuanced solo that is both informed by traditional Indian phrasing and blazes beyond it into a realm where it mixes with rock and jazz in a post-McLaughlin fashion. The two following pieces pit the limber vocals of Ms. Bennett with some sterling fused-ensemble writing.

The album continues on with an interesting cornucopia of ornate fusion compositions that bring in at times various well-conceived indo-fused elements, as well as Afro-jazz and a hint of Brazilian jazz. The second half of the album generally excels in the architectural intricacy of the melody lines, rhythmically heightened solo work and heavily burnished ensemble work. Bruce Arnold and Bill Urmson stand out for their work on "New Beginnings." "Sahara" has a Tyner-Sanders feel to it, grooves nicely and highlights some rather scorching Van Lenten soprano.

"Voice of 1000 Colors" has a very attractive Afro-Reichian beginning then segues to fused bossa. "Vertical Fantasy on 'You Know You Know'" gives Rossi a chance to comment upon, embellish and give his improvisational impressions of the classic McLaughlin line.

"Feast or Famine" ends the program on a nicely turned modulatory fusion mode.

In the end there are spots of sheer brilliance in the Indo-fused introductory pieces and then some very well wrought mainstream fusion in the following pieces. Rossi is a composer-arranger of great promise and definite talent. The performers give their all (which is a goodly sum) and you go away feeling happy. What more can you ask? Indo-fusologists will love the first half of this program; general fusicologists will appreciate it all I suspect. I reveled in the first half; enjoyed the second.

Machine Mass Trio, "As Real As Thinking," with Guitarist Michel Delville

Belgian guitarist Michel Delville got together with fellow DouBt member drummer Tony Bianco to work on an offshoot project. They eventually brought in Belgian tenor man Jordi Grognard to form the Machine Mass Trio. As Real as Thinking (MoonJune 041) is the initial result, and it is a highly charged small-group rock-fuse opus that crackles with electricity. Delville, who also wields his jazz-rock pyrotechnics with The Wrong Object, stands out on this set with a brash metallic outward thrust much of the time. Jordi plays some expanded tenor in a sort of post-Leibman mode and gets some nicely spacey sounds on flute and snaky bass clarinet as well. Drummer Tony Bianco rocks with fusionoid virtuosity and takes an out-free path when needed.

There are torrid advanced out-rockers, some droning psychedelics, riff-based funkers with long floating melodies that owe something to Soft Machine and Weather Report, and some off-in-space segments where they take it out.

All-in-all it's another good spin on the genre of electric jazz-rock as evolved out of classic Soft Machine, Mothers and other innovators of the initial flowering of the music. It is first and foremost a group sound and a conceptual-compositional vehicle situation. Though compositions work to establish the mood of each number, yet it is what's put on top of it that often holds the most interest. Individual solos are there as needed and both Delville and Grognard come through singly as warranted, but it can be a matter of a three-way collective improvisation as well. A high point is Delville's long, planet-spanning guitar solo on "Falling Up."

It is a nicely turned set. It's a nicely wrought contribution to the music.

The New Universe Music Festival 2010 CD or DVD Set: McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Lenny White, etc.

The 2010 edition of the New Universe Music Festival (Abstract Logix 2-CD ABLX030, 2-DVD ABLX 031) was a gathering of the tribes, so to speak, an extended look at the current state-of-the-art for fusion artists, mostly from the roster of Abstract Logix records. Fortunately the film and audio crew were well placed and captured the whole thing, the best of which is available as a 2-CD or 2-DVD set from the record label. I've spend some time looking and listening closely to these sets and I emerge with a good feeling about it all.

Whether listening to the CDs or looking-listening to the DVDs you get the same basic program. Alex Machacek, his trio and his advanced guitar work, drummer Ranjit Barot with a six-piece outfit, Scott Kinsey's keys and quartet, Jimmy Herring's guitar and quartet, Wayne Krantz's alternate guitar vision with a trio, famed drummer Lenny White leading a two-guitar quintet, and last but not at all least, John Mclaughlin with his quartet and a special appearance from tabla master Zakir Hussain. For the DVD version you get a bonus series of excerpts from the Tribute to McLaughlin, which includes many of the artist appearing previously. You also get interviews from some of the key players in the festival.

This is an excellent, stimulating program and the highlights are many. I would single out Alex Machacek for his spacey guitar work, Ranjit Barot's drum solo and Indo-Fusion, Jimmy Herring's guitar work throughout, Matthew Garrison's wacky de-tuned bass solo and very hip ensemble playing on the Scott Kinsey set, Lenny White's excellent performance, and the John McLaughlin finale and its stirring duets and trios with McLaughlin-Hussein and Hussein and the two McLaughlin drummers Mark Mondesir and Gary Husband, all of which brings home (as does the festival as a whole) how much Indian classical form and sophistication have become a mainstay in contemporary fusion. The segment also, to say the least, exhilarates with its dynamic interplay. Hussain of course is one of the foremost percussion masters of today and through his finely honed, rhythmically superlative performance he spurs McLaughlin and the drummers on to some of their most inspired playing in years.

The interviews are not uninteresting but ultimately dispensible, as are the highlights of the McLaughlin tribute. But they are bonus material only found on the DVD, so they are an additional reason why the DVD is the best bet if you have a good audio connection to your DVD system. Sound is excellent in either format and the camera work is very good as well.

So there you have it. The New Universe is populated with a consistently high-level set of performances. Guitarists, drummers, bass players, keyboardists and just plain fans will find much to like here. It is a bit of a scorcher! Highly recommended.