Elliott Sharp/Terraplane: Blues for Next. 2000. Knitting Factory Records: KFW-285.Elliott Sharp: compositions, electric guitar, console steel guitar, national steel guitar, tenor saxophone
Sim Cain: drums, electronic percussion
Sam Furnace: alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
David Hofstra: electric bass, acoustic bass
with guests -
Dean Bowman: vocals
Eric Mingus: vocals
Hubert Sumlin: electric guitar
Sim Cain is one cool drummer. I don't know why I don't get knocked over the head with that every time I listen to this double-CD. But this time through I'm feeling the drums and they sit exactly right with me. Also, I have much fewer reservations with the "plus" disc (disc 1) on this listening. The guest solos from Hubert Sumlin and the guest vocals feel like a natural fit with this band. But it's still the "quartet" disc - with just the 4-piece blues band - that has the most red meat in this listening experience. There's a lot of "downtown" vibe in this sound - but the blues core is for real.
Terry Riley: Atlantis Nath. 2001. Sri Moonshine Music: SMM 001.Terry Riley: composer, voice, midi programming, piano, synthesizer
Luc Martinez: sound design, post-manipulation, recording
Frederic Lepee: acoustic fretless guitar
John Deaderick: spoken text
Nice Opera String Quartet
Much like Terry Riley's creative output as a whole, this CD doesn't stand still within any particular medium or strict genre over time. From the onset of the droning overdubbed voices of "Crucifixion Voices" to the MIDI realizations of "Derveshum Carnivalis" and "Even Your Beloved Wife" to the musique concrete of "Mosque" and "Ascencion Final Chord Rising," this listening experience is a journey through the vibrant ideas of a composer who is so much more than a "West Coast minimalist." At the core of this sequence of pieces is "Ascencion," a solo piano work performed by the composer himself that marks one of the most satisfying destinations on this journey. This is one I spin often.
Charlie Hunter: Charlie Hunter. 2000. Blue Note Records: 7243 5 25450 2 5.Charlie Hunter: 8-string guitar
with various configurations of:
Peter Apfelbaum: tenor saxophone
Josh Roseman: trombone
Leon Parker: drums, percussion
Stephen Chopek: percussion
Robert Perkins: percussion
What does Charlie Hunter do with all those strings on his guitar? Well, for one thing, he is his own bass player. It's not enough that he's a guitar player with mad chops -- even as he plays wicked solos he is also providing his own bass lines. This guy must be a monster to see live. His guitar tone is interesting as well. I think that lot of the sound he gets comes from the type of amplifiers he uses (which the liner notes credits as being Victoria Amps). It's a warm, mellow tone that Hunter steers through some funky, percussive pieces on this self-titled offering. "Two For Bleu" is a highlight and there's a nice Latin take on Thelonius Monk's "Epistrophy" as well.
