Stanley Clarke, Biréli Lagrène, Jean-Luc Ponty – D-Stringz (2015)
The magic we’ve heard from these virtuosos over all these years has been rekindled with the ‘D-Stringz’ project, and without the need to burn fossil fuels.
The magic we’ve heard from these virtuosos over all these years has been rekindled with the ‘D-Stringz’ project, and without the need to burn fossil fuels.
For his last proper album, unsung guitar hero Sonny Sharrock fully opened up the spigot of his potential. ‘Ask The Ages’ is nothing short of a masterpiece.
With an imaginative mind and worldly experience, fresh and appealing ideas can still be mined within the realm of fusion jazz. Like, for instance, Michael Cain’s ‘Sola.’
The name has changed but the product is basically the same. They didn’t mess with a good thing, so there’s a lot to recommend about ‘Huntertones.’
Not content with the high bar they set for themselves, Marbin raises their game higher still for “African Shabtry” and the new album ‘Aggressive Hippies.’
Wilco keyboard player Mikael Jorgensen transformed Kuhl’s Euro-pop song “Wave (of Dreams)” into something move-inducing and a little intriguing as well.
Pridgen plays tricky odd-metered rhythms, Laswell’s formidable bass sets the parameters for the melody and Sopko goes balls-out free to push over the ledge a performance already on the edge.
‘Black Light’ shows the still-vital John McLaughlin with the help of his spirited band the 4th Dimension incrementally pushing his craft forward.
Released on Oct. 11, 1972, Miles Davis’ ‘On the Corner’ remains fresh and funky. So, why isn’t it more widely accepted as a fusion masterpiece?
Animation’s ‘Machine Language,’ a final gift from Bob Belden, leaves no doubt that his adventurous spirit lives on. Hopefully, forever.