23 Sep
Urban Sprawl by Mike MacAllister Group
Monday, 23 September 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
The young Berklee-born Mike MacAllister Group shows a lot more depth that their jazz-funk pedigree would indicate. On their self-released Urban Sprawl, the snapping backbea…
23 Sep
Urban Sprawl by Mike MacAllister Group
Monday, 23 September 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
This quote comes from Steve Greenlee's Jazz Notes in the June 7, 2002 Jazz Notes column of the Boston Globe Newspaper. "Local kids make good: We get a lot of discs b…
22 Sep
Plays Just Notes by Roger Tubesound Ensemble
Sunday, 22 September 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
The Roger Tubesound Ensemble's debut album "Pentatonic Surprise" (1997, RI-046)was one of the first pseudonyms with which Atom Heart (or AtomTM as he callshimself nowadays)…
21 Sep
Urban Sprawl by Mike MacAllister Group
Saturday, 21 September 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
URBAN SPRAWL - DOES IT ALLYou don't have to be a musician to have your sox blown off by Urban Sprawl, the debut CD of the Mike MacAllister Group. But if yo…
03 Sep
Physics of Light by Martin Meheux
Tuesday, 03 September 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Drummer Martin Meheux’s CD Physics of Light is his first solo project away from his work with the Montreal based progressive fusion band Spaced Out. The lines that d…
With Physics of Light drummer Martin Maheux illustrates how an otherwise fine album of progressive jazz fusion can be marred by a poor production concept. Recorded w…
Allan Holdsworth has, for the past thirty years, eluded widespread recognition and commercial success. Nevertheless he’s a guitarist’s guitarist; a musician’s musician, if …
15 Aug
Sweet Oblivious Antidote by Perpetual Groove
Thursday, 15 August 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Perpetual Groove is an improvisational rock quartet from Savannah, GA that has apparently grown a sizeable fan base based in large part on their free CD promotions. They’re…
15 Aug
The Ozell Tapes/The Official Bootleg-Marcus Miller Live by Marcus Miller
Thursday, 15 August 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
When you think of great jazz fusion bass player's names like Jaco Pastorious come to mind, in fact if you do a search using Google for jazz fusion bass players his name is …
02 Aug
Non Conformative by Hybrid Freak Division
Friday, 02 August 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
What comes to mind when you hear the name Hybrid Freak Division? My initial thought, as many people would think, is that this is no ordinary band. As it turns out, i…
Oh boy, is the anti-ECM posse going to have to eat their words when they hear this one! To be sure, there is an ECM "sound" (or two, or three, actually) and it’s led some o…
25 Jul
Les 13 Cicatrices by Trepp / Vigroux / Blanc
Thursday, 25 July 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
I’m not familiar with this (presumably French) trio, so I can’t say this platter is typical of what they do/are capable of. Here, they concentrate on an amalgam of thorny, …
Italian-born guitarist Enrico Rosa has been a part of the European music scene for over thirty years, playing on dozens of albums as both a sideman and leader. He ha…
15 Jul
I'm Back In Therapy And Its All Your Fault by Roberta Piket & Alternating Current
Monday, 15 July 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Roberta Piket has taken a turn in her career as an adventurous pianist, one whose sensibilities tend toward the odd and unexpected, by switching to the Wurlitzer electric p…
Rare Blend explores their own "Evolution Theory" by taking music and all its possibilities to another level of audio perception by combining jazz and rock to create …
I am not quite sure what to say or feel about this CD. Musique Noise is very original and Fulmines Integralis is one of the most different progressive albums …
QB3's a new group with a hefty number of influences spread across seven cuts.From original funk and deep-house to ambient and odd metered excursions, all contemporary bases…
15 Jun
Looking Back by Phillips Grier and Flinner
Saturday, 15 June 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
This guitar/mandolin/bass trio plays in a Fusion sub-genre alternately known as "new acoustic music" or "jazzgrass" [=jazz + bluegrass] or sometimes even "Dawg music," afte…
This disc reminds me of the early 1970s - and it's not just the use of Hammond organ. I refer to the good parts: say what you will about the downside of that decade (and in…
07 Jun
Uncertainty Principle by Ghetto Love Sugar
Friday, 07 June 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Well, here’s one disc that’ll likely set The Category Police to working overtime - the "jazz camp" will say (due to its use of electronics and overt lack of bebop content, …
27 May
A Guy With An Accent by Robbie Angelucci
Monday, 27 May 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
A remarkable blending of fusion with jazz, r&b, funk, and rock creates a memorable CD collection for the jazz listening audience in A GUY WITH AN ACCENT featuring the inven…
27 May
Invisible Threads by Andy Summers & John Etheridge
Monday, 27 May 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Invisible Threads (originally released in 1994 on Mesa Records) is now available on the newly formed Favored Nations Acoustic label, an offspring of Steve Vai’s Favored Nat…
Onomatopea refers to more than just this group’s name. While it is a unique name for a musical unit, it sheds some light upon who these people are and what their mes…
Steve Howe is a world-renowned guitar virtuoso with the great progressive rock group Yes. Probably only the most devoted fans realize that there is much more to him …
Curlew, the George Cartwright-led band with its flexible membership has been around in one form or another since 1978, pursuing its own guerrilla war against prefab music v…
The folks at Cuneiform have unearthed yet another gem of early 70s prog-/jazz-rock, this time by the short-lived but nonetheless nifty Matching Mole. MM was the band drumme…
The trouble with some of the current (and even former) breed of "jam bands" is they frequently fall into the trap of noodling/formlessness/self-indulgence. The trouble with…
10 Apr
Live At Semper Opera by Jean Luc Ponty
Wednesday, 10 April 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Jean Luc Ponty recorded a live performance at Semper Opera in Dresden, Germany on May 25, 2001. This CD is the result of that recording. Ponty and his longtime band cover m…
05 Apr
Show Em Where You Live by Vital Information
Friday, 05 April 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Vital Info is back with another release exploring their American music roots. A perfect example is Mr. T.C. which is a high powered funk workout harking back to Book…
Al Di Meola manages to release a top shelf album every time out. I do not believe he has ever received a negative response to anything he has ever done in the studio or liv…
30 Mar
Cosmic Tree by Rabbinical School Dropouts
Saturday, 30 March 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
With a group moniker like The Rabinnical School Dropouts, one might have an inkling that this ain’t your father’s Klezmer band. These SoCal whiz-kids put a wildly irreveren…
Al Di Meola and his jazz guitar have been charming audiences for over 25 years, and he is one of the most complex, intricate guitarists performing in contemporary jazz toda…
This CD is simply flawless, but what more can one expect from a talent as honed yet innovative as keyboard player/composer Joe Sample. Having traveled long and far in the m…
What most impresses the listener to Personae by the trio of Jonas Helborg, Shawn Lane and Jeff Sipe is the incredible technical chops these three musicians possess. …
Guitarist Nels Cline has played in jazz contexts (Julius Hemphill, Tim Berne, Gregg Bendian) and rock contexts (Mike Watt, Geraldine Fibbers), but nothing (well, almost not…
Some listeners/readers familiar with less-commercial variants on what’s come to be know as "alternative rock" (a phrase about as useful these days as "progressive jazz," as…
20 Feb
Lookout For Hope by Jerry Douglas
Wednesday, 20 February 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
For those that think that quality/creative fusion is a thing of the past, here your wake-up call. To be sure, this dobro-playing Jerry Douglas guy represents the acoustic s…
I recognized the names, Henry Mancini and Charlie "Bird" Parker. I figured that because this band was a jazz oriented unit that they took those two well known names and put…
13 Feb
Blue Ginger by Rob Denton And The Third Level
Wednesday, 13 February 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Third Level is an interesting fusion of styles; incorporating oncontemporary and commercial jazz and instrumental rock, Blue Ginger putsforth an enjoyable sampling ofcompos…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Soft Machine were one of the MOST ORIGINAL AND UNDERRATED of the bands from the "golden age" of Fusion (1969-74), only not that m…
Curlew are one of those darn-near unclassifiable bands: part art/prog-rock, part-fusion jazz, part avant-garde jazz, with over/undertones of 20th century classical/notated …
PERSONAE is a vital, energetic blend of fusion with contemporary jazz. It features the artistry of composer Jonas Hellborg on bass, accompanied by Shawn Lane on guitar and …
The 70s (and the late 60s) were a time when "fusion" was NOT a commercially accepted genre/classification. In many ways, fusion was just as distrusted and reviled as bebop …
01 Jan
Blown Fuse by Lucus Pickford and Steve Hunt
Tuesday, 01 January 2002
Published in
Fusion - CD Reviews
Blown Fuse is a fantastic release with hot creativity almost reaching overload mode through each of the ten compositions! Bassist Lucas Pickford and veteran fusion keyboard…
Bill Laswell helped Herbie Hancock (see also U0104) with his "Rockit"breakthrough some twenty years ago. And the Material man is heavily presenthere as well, as co-producer…
Brazilian electric guitarist Miguel Mega’s CD Coastline is his third solo effort. The recording combines elements of Latin, rock and jazz music into an electrifying …
Guitarist Joel Newton’s self-produced One showcases an adventurous guitarist with chops to spare. Based out of New York, he and his band One re-invent the early jazz…
The first time I picked up Strange & Wonderful, I knew the experience would be a unique one. The group's name sounded like something out of the realm of normality by…
Any Jazz musician will tell you that playing Fusion is risky business, as blending styles and sounds together can create just as much cacophony as harmony. The trick is to …
Guitarist John Scofield is one of the few musicians whose sound has remained distinctive even as he’s moved forward and grown. Over the decades, he’s honed a style that doe…