Outer Music Diary

Jack Bruce and Friends - Bottom Line, New York City 3/19/80

The other Bruce and Friends show I’ve heard, from 1970, was in such poor condition it wasn’t really worth bothering with, but it did make one fact clear, even a decade in between doesn’t change his setlist all that much. Bruce surrounds himself with a pretty strong cast for this 1980 FM-broadcasted show, including Billy Cobham, Clem Clemson and David Sancious, all arguably virtuosos on their given instruments. So when we end up with the usual stuff from Cream and the early Bruce albums, it’s hard not to feel all that talent is wasted and I didn’t spend most of the listening experience goggling at the instrumental moves, which you normally would with a band including Cobham and Sancious. It actually gives a similar impression to similar “and Friends” shows by Bonnie & Delaney, Eric Clapton, and the like, that I’d rather be spending my time on the originals. Sure, the material is great, but these renditions make it feel like something is missing. But given live Bruce is so rare, it’s still something of a pleasure.

Frogg Café - Munchaba Lounge, Levittown, NY 8/2/05

A reasonable audience recording of a modern group I haven’t quite put my arms around yet, they seem a bizarre mish-mash of Kansas like accessibility with Zappa-like compositional skill, meaning they tend to be one of the few bands that tries to build a bridge between the left and right. While the sort of modern sheen the band uses isn’t all that much to my taste (I call it the Echolyn Effect and I’m not sure I can verbalize it), there’s no denying this is a rather skilled group and I was quite impressed by some of the violin work that knits it all together, it’s hard not to think of those moments with Ponty playing for Zappa. I’m still not familiar with the band’s material (which goes a long way in making a show a great experience), but each listen is improving my opinion.

Taipuva Luotisuora - I

This is turning out to be a very good space rock album in a genre where it’s pretty difficult to break out of the rut defined by the various incarnations of Gong, Pink Floyd and Hawkwind. It’s not that TL are particularly different, you’ve got the hypnotic rhythms, the synth effects back up and even a rather good flute player, all of which bring TL comfortably close to Ozric Tentacles and TL’s most obvious contemporaries, Hidria Spacefolk. But what I like that TL do a bit different is arranging the various instrumental parts more cyclically, so that not everybody is just playing the main themes, for instance on the album’s opening track, you have the guitar playing a sort of groove that plays around the rhythm section, letting the flute get much of the lead. In fact if there’s anything that TL is missing, it’s more leads and while that addition might push TL a little closer to the Ozric Tentacles model, it would help to create better climaxes in the compositional work. I suppose I’d need II to see where they went with this, but from all accounts it’s not as strong an album.

Isildur’s Bane - The Voyage - A Trip to Elsewhere

I’ve puzzled long and hard over the music this Tolkien-inspired progressive has released. They’ve migrated from two rather different Scandinavian styles, one a rather ethereal symphonic rock style, the other a more modern jazz-rock style close to modern Pekka Pohjola, to music of a more Zappa-influenced persuasion, marrying their progressive rock aspirations with a newer formality and sense of experimentation.

But despite the fact that they seem to be one of the few newer groups that really live up to the progressive part of the equation, no matter what new evolution is on their books, most of their albums leave me cold or worse. When the band reconstituted themselves with the Mind Volume 1 album, I saw them entering a sphere a bit closer to personal tastes, yet the live follow up, in some quarters a revelation, left me extremely bored and unenthusiastic. It leaves me with the question, was it me or them?

The Voyage - A Trip to Elsewhere was the double CD follow up to Cheval and the last album before the Mind transformations and it’s been a good decade since I played this. I literally spun this two or three times this go around just to be sure I wasn’t missing something, but for the most part this seems to be an album that takes riffs and beats them to death. Now this is really what you want overall, you want a theme and its development, but for my ears the riffs don’t start out very interesting and they’re often developed in the most obvious ways with differing rhythm changes and new stops and starts. Often, this sounds more like practice than a composition. When the themes and riffs aren’t being developed, they seem to be more interested in the musical dynamics of the concept and there are just loads of spots that leave room for effects and transition. If the themes themselves held much interest for me, I might see the bridges as being necessary, but for the most part they were the cause behind the replaying, because I was sure I was missing something. Something I never found, apparently.

Friends – s/t. 1973. Underground America comes through once again. With Europe, especially in places like France and Germany, it’s relatively easy to spot the pigeon. For every pop album, there was an experimental avant-garde release not far behind. But not the US of A. The land of the quick buck. No, you have to dig deep and far. And in all genres. Because you never know where the next great album lies. Friends. Yea, good luck in finding info with a name like that. But one name jumps out once you’ve been exposed to this treasure: John Abercrombie. What on Earth? That’s TWO discoveries for me in the last year that features this well known ECM guitarist. The other being Stark Reality . You know, I didn’t start collecting last year. I’ve been doing this for 25 years heavily. I still don’t know anything. And since we spoke of Germany earlier, that’s exactly where I’d guess this album had come from had I not known any better. Let’s first discuss the lineup of instruments: Guitar, sax, bass and drums. Big deal right? We’ll start with Abercrombie, since he’s the marquee name thrown around. He was clearly in his Mahavishnu John era, and has no problem playing jazz guitar like Jimi Hendrix on steroids. So we already have an edge. Most of the bass work is stand-up, like I’VE NEVER HEARD ANYONE before. Louisiana born Clint Houston is all over his instrument, like a pissed off Jimmy Garrison. Love Supreme my ass - Hate Supreme and get out of my way homeboy. Drummer Jeff Williams puts in the most ordinary performance, and he’s still nothing short of excellent. And then there’s Marc Cohen. He MUST HAVE KNOWN Tim Belbe. Any jazzer reading this page is going who is Tim Belbe? But the Krautrock heads know – we’re talking Xhol Caravan here. Wah-wah, fuzz, phased, echo-plexed and just flat out tortured. What Mike Ratledge did to the Lowrey Organ is what Tim Belbe did to the saxophone. And Marc Cohen FREAKS OUT even more than Belbe did - at least on vinyl. Elton Dean might as well be Charlie Parker when we’re in this game. So basically we have four long, very freaked out instrumental tracks of jazz rock underground avant insane madness. And it rocks like nobody’s business. This album is just ridiculous. Awesome.

Metrognom – Twangyluck. 2006. I always like it when progressive rock bands call out obscure references, as it generally shows a band that has done at least some musical research. Just as in the early 1970s when the best bands possessed good knowledge of classical, jazz, rock and blues, today’s groups should be able to single out more than Yes, Genesis, Marillion, Radiohead and Porcupine Tree. So Metrognom come out with the Cosmic Jokers, Grobschnitt, Novalis, Goblin, Pulsar and fellow countrymen Akasha and Host, along with the usual Gentle Giant, Camel and King Crimson. Not that Metrognom really sound like any of those bands, nor should they. They’re influences. Something they can draw upon, like a good scientist would do with past research. On “Twangyluck”, Metrognom compose and perform four long instrumental pieces (13,13,14,21), driven primarily by aggressive guitar (though not metal) and active drumming. Sax and keyboards (Hammond, Moog, Mellotron and some modern synths) provide the color and occasional solo. I like their use of the wind synthesizer, an instrument that still is under-utilized in the current progressive rock genre. Some of the sax playing, when in unison with the guitar, recall the early 70s UK bands like Raw Material or Hannibal, something you rarely hear these days. If I had a complaint, it’s that the keyboards are a bit buried in the mix at times, lessoning their potential impact. Metrognom are yet another exciting band from Scandinavia, which along with Chile, are clearly leading the way for progressive rock in this first decade of the millennium.

Deformica – H. 2006. Interesting debut from new group from Argentina. Clearly the post rock bug has bitten them and one can hear influences anywhere from Tortoise through to Don Caballero. To my ears, that would imply they are a bit boring, but Deformica take the music much further, with many changes of mood, texture, metrics and dynamics. On this point, one can hear mid 70s King Crimson and their current following channeled by groups like Yang, Exsimio and Djam Karet. Deformica are not afraid to experiment and it’s interesting to note the band will throw in a loose improvisation at the very end of most tracks, thus ensuring the listener isn’t going to be in for the long haul on something that may not interest them. I’ve never heard a band systematically improvise on the last minute of each track like this. It’s a winning idea. The keyboard tones tend to be digital emulations of electric piano and are far too timid for what this band needs. The dual guitars generally play in unison or in counterpoint rhythm mode, but occasionally break into a nice solo, though it’s not their forte. The rhythm section is solid, and the bass player demonstrates some massive potential, that isn’t completely realized. A very impressive debut, though I would like to see them blow the lid off once in awhile, in a place where you’d find Nebelnest maybe.

La Torre Dell’Alchimista - Neo. 2007. La Torre dell’Alchimista (LTdA) are one of the many current Italian progressive rock acts that are recreating the sounds of the past and moving it forward to the 21st century. LTdA are a bit more purist than most groups in this space, eschewing modern tendencies such as metal, electronica and post rock. Keyboards are the focal point, like with many of the 1970s classic groups, and bandleader Michele Mutti possesses an impressive array of vintage gear including Hammond C3, Mini Moog, Mellotron and a 1973 Fender Rhodes amongst many others. However, unlike fellow Italian retro rockers Wicked Minds, modern production techniques are in full force, and there’s no question that LTdA are a band from the current age. All of these historical references don’t matter if the music compositions aren’t there - and LTdA come through on this front. As students of the genre are keenly aware, the options of creating exciting and unique music is immense, and LTdA have found their little slice of the big pie. And fortunately they use the Italian language which goes so naturally with the style. File along with La Maschera di Cera as the current torchbearers of the original Italian progressive rock sound.

Novaks Kapelle – Naked. 1978. This Vienna based group has to be considered pioneers of the post-punk movement - almost before there was a punk movement itself… now that’s forward thinking! Fairly complex, but anguished basic raw rock album from a band that would’ve probably been a polit-rock group in early 70s Osterreich, but were in a completely different zone by 1978. One of the most disturbing covers ever of fully naked grandmothers enjoying a glass of wine together. On a gatefold no less. It’s a sight that remains with you… and not in a good way. Black metal bands take note: The whole satan peeing on the cross with virgins drinking goat blood is a total yawner compared to this thing.

The First International Sex Opera – Anita. 1969. God knows who made me this tape, but I’m guessing it goes back to the early 90s. Despite the band name, and the Amsterdam based location of said group, this is decidedly NOT erotic in the least bit. The female vocals (more like nagging shrieks, heavy sighs, rollercoaster screams and other irritants) are completely annoying. On this front, the closest comparison would be to Japan’s JA Caesar, but without any of the purpose and tension they bring. Musically, FISO is fairly interesting, as the band pretty much play in a loose free rock style with decent guitar and organ leads. My guess is this album was influenced by the Vampyros Lesbos movie/album from Germany, that enjoyed a cult following even back then.

Dimitris Poulikakos - Metaforai, Ekdromai o Mitsos. 1976. Another cassette tape gathering dust. Pretty easy to describe this Greek artist – as Dimitris is clearly influenced by Frank Zappa or maybe even Albert Marcouer. Has the complex rock and fusion tacks interspersed with the requisite amount of silliness. Probably too much of the latter for me to get too excited about this title, but there’s plenty of (uncle) meat in here to digest.

Bwana – s/t. 1972. You can practically count the number of great progressive / psych albums from Colombia on one finger. And here it is. But their sole representative isn’t only good, it’s nothing short of amazing. I suppose it comes as no surprise that the major influence here is Santana. In particular the first two albums. The organ tones are not as heavy (I don’t think it’s a Hammond either) and the guitarist doesn’t have near the chops as Carlos (though he’s no slouch either). And while vocals exist on Bwana, they aren’t a key to the sound. And when it’s time to get indigenous, they naturally raise the sounds of pre-Colombian South America versus Mexico. So at this point you may be thinking we have a watered down version of “Abraxas”, but that’s not the case at all. Where Bwana gains ground is in their use of percussion, which is more varied and is also a feature rather than an accent. There’s also a tribal voodoo element going on throughout, making me wish I knew of other groups coming out of Colombia during this era. Six long tracks, totaling over 45 minutes, and not a dud amongst them.

Grateful Dead - Boston Music Hall 12/1/73
Grateful Dead - Boston Music Hall 5/7/77

One show during one of their best years and another during one of their best years and months, the summary is a 1973 Dead show that gets the job done without excelling and a 1977 show that’s really right in the middle of a peak.

December 1st, 1973 seems largely a standard gig based on it being a date right in the middle of two other shows in the run chosen for Dick’s Picks 14, one of the better entries in the series. A chunk of the first set appears to be missing for the soundboard although it’s actually not until later that there are some pieces of interest, such as the Uncle John’s Band sandwiched between Playing in the Band and the tentative but still extremely beautiful Row Jimmy. You really can see why they skipped it for release, while wondering how many discs DP 14 might have been during the post-Latvala era.

The May 7, 1977, show is extraordinary. Many Grateful Dead soundboards are wonderful, but this one still has to be at the top end in terms of a beautiful recording, it’s actually hard to imagine a legitimate master would improve much. The show is one of the many highlights of this tour, and it’s already hot in the first set with an extremely jammy Half Step with some strange synth/organ accompaniment, segueing beautifully into Big River and then a Music Never Stopped with Garcia killing on the solo, definitely a set closer for the ages. Set 2 coasts on this wave, Keith Godchaux really opening up on Friend of the Devil and the long suite moving through a sublime 14 minute Whart Rat. It’s hard to fault this on any level, while arguably the next two nights were even better.

Itibere Orquestra Familia - Teatro Alvaro de Carvalho Florianopolis, Brazil 5/19/04 (video)

It’s kind of funny in pairing a couple items to talk about just how often there’s an unintended similar theme between them, in this case it just happens to be about child prodigies. From what I understand Hermeto Pascoal finally retired his Grupo, leaving the individual musicians to new projects, and in bassist Itibere Zwarg’s case, it’s taking the music of Hermeto to a new band made of children. I mean it’s amazing seeing grown adults navigate some of these compositions, but seeing a group whose average age has to be in the early teens nail some of these thorny pieces is really encouraging. Pascoal wrote like a fiend, so there are definitely a few pieces here I’m totally unfamiliar with. I can only hope that so many of these players can continue the Pascoal legacy in such a manner. Now I want to check out the CD.

Derek Trucks and the Dominators - The Cavern, Atlanta 1991 (video)

There’s only one child prodigy on stage here, a very young (I believe 12 years old) Derek Trucks. Trucks is an impressive guitar player as an adult, but as a kid fronting his own band (well, sorta) Trucks has rare talent. There’s something about him, even this young, that makes the second guitarist want to step up, and like Warren Haynes on the fairly recent Beacon Theatre DVD, the other players on this set seems intent on playing as many notes as possible. Obviously this isn’t mature Trucks, he’s got all the basics of slide guitar down, but he doesn’t have that almost sublime and gentle control over his phrasing that he’d develop in the next decade. But you only tend to think of this kind of thing after watching a 12 year old tear it up. The music is mostly blues number and covers, including from the Allman Brothers he’d later join (Hendrix’s “Little Wing” as well), none of which are particularly interesting, mostly because the second guitarist/vocalist seems like he just walked in from a metal group. For me, Trucks’ laid back approach even this young is far more fulfilling than the whole “watch me shred” vibe, which seems out of place in this sort of format, on the other hand you have to give it to the band helping this young talent get well needed experience.