BILL BRUFORD - Drums, Percussion, Little Keyboard, Mixing
TONY LEVIN - Basses, Stick, Mixing, Art, Photos
CHRIS BOTTI - Trumpet
DAVID TORN - Guitars Loops
TOM MARK- Engineer, Mixing
BOB LUDWIG - Mastering
MEGAN DENVER - Graphic Imageing
Upper Extremities" contains the exotic sounds of four extremely talented musicians playing off each other -- and having fun."
With this CD, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford present music unlike any you've ever heard.
It begins with the thundering rhythm section of progressive rock band
King Crimson and adds the avant garde guitar riffs and distant planet
loops of David Torn. Mix in the cool jazz sound of Chris Botti's
trumpet - turn it upside down in a blender, and you've got Bruford
Levin Upper Extremities - a CD that breaks through boundaries, nearly
defying description.
Though Bill Bruford and Tony Levin have collaborated for many years, as
a drummer and bassist will, this is the first voice given over totally
to their creative will. Together, Bill and Tony have, for a long time,
been the engine that propels the progressive rock group King Crimson.
Bruford's drums and Levin's bass have also been heard together powering
music of YES, Steve Hackett, David Torn, Al Dimeola, the upcoming CD of
U.K., and a variety of progressive projects.
Individually, Bruford has an impressive list of credits - YES, Genesis, U.K., Crimson, his own Earthworks, and others.
Tony Levin has toured and/or recorded with Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd,
John Lennon, Lou Reed, and many more. His two projects on Papa Bear
Records - World Diary and From the Caves of the Iron Mountain - have
etched new ground musically and carved out a place in the industry for
the company.
Guitarist David Torn has been recording his own avant garde projects
for some time - a leader in the field of new instrumental music, he's
much in demand at European festivals. His album Cloud About Mercury
featured Bruford and Levin and has become a classic of the genre.
Chris Botti, known for his trumpet playing with Paul Simon and Blue
Nile, has found himself at the top of the jazz charts with his solo
releases, including, most recently, Midnight Without You.
Drummer Bill Bruford and bassist Tony Levin have worked together off
and on as the rhythm section of the post-1980 manifestation of King
Crimson. Here, they collaborate on a quartet project of their own with
guitarist David Torn and trumpeter Chris Botti, a rather strange
constellation of musicians that works surprisingly well. Things start
off a bit slowly with the overlong, two-chord vamp "Cerulean Sea," but
they pick up immediately thereafter. "Original Sin" features cool,
muted trumpet from Botti and Crimson-esque Stick playing by Levin (the
Chapman Stick being a 12-stringed instrument designed to be played
simultaneously as a bass and as a guitar), against which Torn shreds
atmospherically and Bruford thumps along with unusual restraint. "A
Palace of Pearls" is lush and contemplative; "Cobalt Canyons" is
bracing, odd-metered prog-rock of the finest kind. Excellent.
What do you get when you take two of Rock music's most gifted
performers -- one a master of bass, the other a drum virtuoso -- throw
in a capable avant-garde guitar and inspired trumpet, and give them the
keys to a studio? Don't answer yet! Add to this mix an attitude of "no
compromise" -- anything goes! Stumped? All right then, I'll give you
the answer. It's called "Upper Extremities."
"Upper Extremities" is the brainchild of Tony Levin and Bill Bruford.
Bruford has worked extensively with the band "Yes" and toured with
"Genesis" for a time around 1977. Levin has always been a mainstay of
Peter Gabriel's band and has played with the likes of Pink Floyd and
John Lennon, just to name a few. Together, the two have made up
one-half of the band King Crimson for well over a decade. Now however,
they have created a melding of talent that is theirs alone -- with no
pressure to do anything but what comes from the heart. "Upper
Extremities" is a disc that casts aside all the trappings of
commerciality and challenges the listener to stand up and take notice.
Yes, it's experimental music, but while not what I would consider music
for the masses, it is not Cage-like soundscape manipulation either.
Some tracks are bizarre -- Bruford's drumming is so out-there that it's
damn near impossible to tap along! Others are so hooky that they'll get
lodged in your head after a couple listens and won't let go without a
fight.
"Cerulean Sea", the first track on "Upper Extremities" falls under the
second category listed above. This tune is so infectious that I found
myself hitting the replay button over and over. This is the perfect
show opener as it starts off relatively slow and easy, but works its
way to a crescendo that'll leave you wanting more. "Cerulean Sea" is a
perfect snapshot of the talent of Levin and Bruford. In it, you get a
hearty dose of Levin's bass mastery, including his "Funk Fingers" (see
interview below), as well as a good idea of just how incredibly
talented a drummer Bill Bruford is. Listen carefully to the rhythm on
this track. Try to keep up! It doesn't seem possible that the human
brain can allow the body such autonomy!
Another inspired track is "Fin de Siecle." What makes this track
special, other than the all-out, frenetic bass line, is the fact that
this song includes something we don't seem to hear very much anymore --
Tony Levin playing the Chapman Stick. The Stick is a specialized
instrument that is part guitar and part bass. Very difficult to play,
this instrument allows one person to play both guitar melody and
bassline at the same time. An accomplished player can do some pretty
wild stuff with the stick and Tony Levin is the MASTER. The stick solo
on this track alone makes it worth the purchase price.
"Cracking the Midnight Glass" almost uses a familiar Led Zeppelin
groove, but turns this sorta-kinda recognizable riff into a
improviser's dream. Using a bowed upright bass, Levin almost reproduces
the riff Jimmy Page made famous in "Kashmir". I keep saying 'almost'
because though the cadence is the same, the notes are just a little
off, making the groove recognizable, but not-quite-right. "Cracking the
Midnight Glass" builds around this bowed bass-line, producing yet
another awesome display of experimental rock music (the intro to the
song, also played with a bow, is inspiring as well).
Probably the sweetest track on "Upper Extremities" is "Palace of
Pearls", a Bill Bruford composition. This song is incredibly delicate,
somewhat Classical in its arrangement -- a tremendously sweet
counterpart to some of the more raucous, Rock-n-Roll arrangements
surrounding it. "Palace of Pearls" shows a lighter, more introspective
side of Bill Bruford, that he can do more than just bang sticks. It's a
beautiful song.
Fans might be interested to know that this disc is a multi-media
venture for Tony Levin. Not only did he write much of the content and
play on every track, but he also did all the artwork. The sleeve
artwork consists of a Levin original -- an interesting blue oil
painting that captures the mood and spirit of the project and shows Mr.
Levin's talents to encompass more than just the music world.
"Upper Extremities" will have a limited audience, that much is
undeniable. Since it will not be widely distributed in record stores,
it won't be snatched up by many impulse buyers. Those who ever see and
hear this project will mostly do so based on prior knowledge of the
musicians. But if you weren't aware of these guys before you started
reading this review, don't let that stop you from getting a copy of
this disc. This is experimental Progressive Rock music at its finest.
This is something not to be missed!
AMZ: Let's start off with some questions about Upper Extremities . . .
This is you and Bill, Chris Botti and David Torn. We know you've worked
with Bill extensively with King Crimson and other projects, but this is
the first time you guys have done something "alone together", right?
T.L.: Okay, well Bill and I have been together now for eighteen years
with King Crimson, so obviously we're very tight in the rhythm section
and we've had it in mind for quite a while to do an album if we could
and one of the reasons we arrived at this . . . with these guys, these
other players is that years ago we did another album with David Torn
called "Cloud Above Mercury" which was quite a while ago . . . about
ten years ago and it was quite a classic of kind of avant garde
Jazz-meets-Rock stuff. It was pretty good. So we remembered what a nice
experience that was which . . . and that had a trumpet player on it and
then in addition to David Torn, I know this trumpet player Chris Botti
who is just a great player. I've played on his albums and he's really
flexible. Even though he plays Jazz on his own albums, I felt that he
could do the kind of Progressive Rock stuff that Bill and I write. And
in addition he has a great melodic sense. He writes songs in his
material. Even though we weren't doing his material, I thought that we
could use that kind of direction to hold the thing kind of down to
Earth because it can be kind of inaccessible when we get really flying
away and loops going all over the place -- which we enjoy I must say --
but indeed I was correct because Chris brought it together with his
melodic sense. Now, having said that, not everything on the record is a
quartet. There are some trios and duos and even single . . . even Bill
Bruford playing on the derelict piano in my garage with his drum
sticks. So you definitely get the feel of the musicians when you get
this record.
AMZ: A little John Cage-ish type of piano play, huh?
T.L. : Sort of, yeah . . . but we didn't write it out. It just kind of
happened. I recorded it. I was on my knees on the floor . . . cuz it
was just the sound board and strings, no keys and he's playing above me
and all the rust from the strings is falling on my head . . . it was
pretty funny.
AMZ: This is a pretty dynamic-sounding album. Kind of outside the norm
for music in general. I've heard several of the things you've done
recently -- call it "experimental" for lack of a better term and the
addition of the trumpet really brought about a different dynamic that I
was kind of unsure about when I read about it, before I actually heard
the album, but it really works.
T.L.: Yeah, well you know when we had the idea to do it like I said, we
thought it would work, but you never know. And it's very strange to put
a trumpet in the kind of context especially of the way I write which is
kind of really unusual chords and rock stuff, but not jazz chords,
really kind of Rocky chords. And it turned out that Chris is great at
that. So we were lucky and we didn't know for sure but we could tell
once we started and went a little way with the project -- we could tell
it was really happening. We're pleased with it.
AMZ: With that in mind, how long did it actually take to make "Upper Extremities"?
T.L: Well, the composition was going on for a long time. I must've
spent about a year working on my compositions and then Bill . . . I
don't know how long his took -- he had a couple compositions. We have
very different ways of composing. He presents all his material to the
band written out. They change it a little bit, but he kind of tells us
each what to play. But mine is the opposite. I just kind of work out my
own thing which I feel will leave the other players the perfect
situation to do their own kind of playing in. I wouldn't try to
maneuver them into doing something that they're not good at. But
anyway, the actual recording took place over a couple weeks and then
the mixing took a couple weeks more. Then I must say I did the artwork
for the album which are my paintings which are based on the pieces.
What I would do is I would loop a mix of the piece and I would just set
a canvas out and put my impressions on it, because it is really kind of
mood-evoking music. So that took really a long time to do, to get the
artwork the way I wanted it and then a little more time to manufacture
it, because I guess I hadn't mentioned it before, but it's my own
little record company.
AMZ: Ah yes, I'm familiar with your record label through your Website.
T.L.: Yes, as you may be aware, I don't make the normal kind of
package. I design my own package that's all cardboard. It doesn't have
any jewel box, which I don't like. It has more art, it has more of the
players on it and this one . . . in the inner booklet, to put comments
about each piece by Bill and myself.
AMZ: I found the artwork, with the way the packaging was produced, it
looked very special, like a collectors item or limited edition package.
T.L.: Thank you. Well I feel that way and of course, you're more right
than you think. If I were to ask a normal record company to make that
package they would absolutely refuse because it costs a lot more than a
normal jewel box. And I must add that I sell it for a normal price. The
difference of course is that they want a hefty markup because they're
business people. And really, I make my living from playing with King
Crimson and Peter Gabriel and playing the bass so this is kind of a way
for me to get my art out and if the package costs 2.50 to manufacture
rather than 60 cents, well that's okay because frankly it still sells
for fifteen dollars.
AMZ: Sure. And you mention your art, I mean you're getting out in more than one media here . . .
T.L.: Yeah, I used to do photographs and then there's been a gradual
transformation as I hand tinted the photographs and then on my last
album, "From the Caves of the Iron Mountain", I was putting so much oil
on the photographs that it looked kind of like a painting even though
it was a black and white photograph. I knew as soon as I heard the
music, you know . . . actually I had taken photographs for the cover of
Bill Bruford's hands and my hands, it was part of the Upper Extremities
idea. And I just said I'm not even going to touch those photos, I'm
just going to do some paintings and maybe use the photographs on the
inside and it ended up . . . I painted hands and I didn't use the
photos at all. And it was fun. As you can tell from my talking about
it, it's not just an album I went and played . . . it was quite an
experience. It's a luxury for a musician to get what he really wants on
his record and do it the way he wants to put it out. So even though the
whole project took a year, it's a great sense of satisfaction to just
put it out there. As you know it's not going to be a huge seller --
it's not radio-friendly and stuff,but I don't care about that. The few
who get it I think are really going to appreciate it. They'll get a
sense of the musicians and my art. Stuff like that.
AMZ: The color blue is very prevalent on the album. It is, of course,
on the cover, it's in the names of the tunes, then you have the
reference to B.L.U.E. (Bruford Levin Upper Extremities). Did the color
bring about the name or did the name bring about the color?
T.L.: No, we just kind of did the whole thing at once. It was my idea
and just the same time as I thought of talking to Bill about doing the
album I thought oh, how about Bruford Levin Upper Extremities. I mean
to get really into it, the upper extremities refer simultaneously to a
few things. I tried to take a lot of pictures of our hands and feet on
the sessions. I think I didn't include the feet, but I included little
pictures of everybody's hands in the CD package. At the same time it
refers to kind of the further out ranges of music and at the same time
I knew I would want to do a painting to it. And I was aware that it
spelled "blue". At one point I had every song referring to the color
blue and Bill -- wisely -- talked me out of that.
AMZ: This definitely looks like it's going to be geared toward people
who are familiar with you and your work, a very special treat.
T.L.: Thank you. My challenge as a record company guy, I'm not very
good at that -- especially the promotion part. If I could reach all the
passionate Crimson followers I'd be in great shape. I think it'll only
be about 1 percent of them who ever hear about it because uh . . . King
Crimson has a kind of decent sized following, but I just don't have the
kind of marketing expertise to reach all of them. I know the Web . . .
I exist more on the Web because I love it. That's where I just am all
the time and I've had my Web page for years, so that's a great place
for me, but there's normal marketing of course through other
advertising and also normally a CD will appear in a record store. I've
chosen to forego distribution because it's just a jungle and there's so
many things . . . So I prefer to sell it only by 800 number or . . .
just with this album we've installed software so that you can actually
order right from the Web site.
AMZ: Well, that seques perfectly to my next question which is
distribution. You are definitely not going to be distributing this
through record stores?
Tony: No. Sometimes I'm tempted to do that and I start speaking to
distributors and then I back off because either they don't want me or I
don't want them and I start getting nervous. Frankly, no matter what I
do I'm not going to make a living from these records. They're too off
the mainstream and I'd rather at least be sure that the people who do
get it really get it in good shape and it isn't bent or torn and we're
incredibly fussy about that. And my secretary who sends out the orders
-- by the way, within a day of getting the orders, there's no six week
baloney, we just send it out the next day. We have huge piles of CD's
that have a little scratch or the color wasn't right on the packaging
or something and she just refuses to send them. And that's the way I
want it.
AMZ: That's fantastic. I suppose had you gone with a huge distributor, you wouldn't have that kind of care.
T.L. : Really, there's so many stops on the chain from the artist to
the consumer and things can go wrong. It's not really just that there
can be rips and tears, it also records stores can be out of it and they
think they have it and you really need the resources of a record
company to call all the record stores and make sure they have it and
that it's on display and in the right bin and all that stuff. Frankly,
I want to put out my music, but I don't want to be in that business.
It's not what I'm good at and it takes too much time. I'd rather just
put this out and do it exactly the way I want and then go right back
out on the road. We're going on the road now to tour with the band.
That's what I should be doing, not going around and pestering the
record stores. Having said that though, let me also say that on the
tours it's inevitable that more people will want to come see us than
can get in the club, because we're playing small clubs. So in almost
all the cities I've arranged to sell it in one store -- usually near
the venue. For instance, in New Haven we're playing at Toad's and right
down the street is Cutler's Records and Bill and I will be in there
signing CD's for an hour. And I'm doing that in most of the cities on
the tour.
AMZ: Earlier you said that both you and Bill walked into the recording
studio with your own compositions. How similar was the stuff that you
walked out with to the stuff that you brought in?
T.L. : That's a good question. The answer isn't simple. One thing I do
with my productions is really avoid the normal studio album where you
do a lot of takes and try to get it perfect. I feel that what I'm about
and Papa Bear records is the magic that can happen among musicians who
are really good and at all costs I don't want to lose any of that
magic. We all know from doing many records that the first few takes
have that and then as you perfect your part inevitably something very
hard to describe gets lost. Not that those aren't good records. So on
this record we often did more than one take, but usually only two or
three takes to capture the spontaneity and the magic. And you can tell
when you listen to it that this is not impeccably perfect. There aren't
big mistakes or anything, but you can tell that the guys are into it.
That hasn't been lost.
AMZ: It shows more feeling. It's more pure and less "boxed" or packaged or generic.
T.L.: Yeah. It gets pretty personal in a lot of ways and that's what I'm like and Bill Brufod to, so why not?
AMZ: It's not going to be MTV music, or real commercial stuff, but some
of the songs have some real hooks to them, like "Cerulean Sea" . . .
T.L. : Yeah. I haven't even sent it to radio, but some of them have
found it and they're obviously alternative stations, but there are a
number of stations around the country playing various tracks. I mean
the album isn't even really officially released yet. Not until April
14. MTV heard about it and they did a spot on it for a couple days,
four times a day so really a lot of people heard about it. They talked
about both the CD and the tour.
AMZ: You mention in the liner notes for "Fin de Siecle", a "rare solo
with the stick". DO you find yourself moving away from the stick to the
more conventional instruments?
T.L.: No. First of all for those who don't know, the stick is quite an
unusual instrument that has both bass strings and guitar strings and
it's safe to say that I'm well known as a stick player -- for one
reason because I've been playing it almost the longest of anybody, but
generally I play the stick only as the bass. I mean, I play both on
King Crimson or my own projects, but obviously if Peter Gabriel calls
me to play or Pink Floyd or something -- they have their own guitar
players, they don't need me playing guitar. So it's not that I can't
play the top, it's just that I don't get to explore the top end or the
guitar side of it very much. On my albums I do somewhat, but I don't
really step out and solo in it generally and so I thought in a sense
that "Siecle" was a bit of a victory for me because I got the sound the
way I want and I advanced my own playing.
AMZ: And it really is an intense track.
T.L.: It's intense. Because it's one guy you can do these things. I'm
playing two counter rhythms against each other on the two sides of the
stick and I'm also -- for those who are technically minded -- I'm
playing like in C on one side and in B on the other side, which is kind
of unusual style. What's great is that Chris -- I was just talking and
laughing with Chris Botti about that because I said to him "Can you
hear a melody on this, because I sure can't!" I'm just playing this
stuff and remarkably he found just a simple three note melody that
really made it. Again it just focused it and held it together and I'm
just so grateful to him for that because I couldn't have done that.
AMZ: "Palace of Pearls". You mention in the notes that you really like that and it really is a delicate track and also intense.
T.L.: That's a composition by Bill Bruford. That's one that he really
had worked out -- not really every note we played but he gave us a lot
of direction on where to go and to me that sounds like a Classical
piece -- and I do love Classical music.
AMZ: It's a beautiful piece!
T.L. : Yeah, I think so too. And I think again -- you asked whether we
left the studio with what we went in with and indeed that's another of
our little victories because we felt good about what we found in the
studio playing that composition.
AMZ: Another that really stands out is "Cracking the Midnight Glass".
It almost sounds like there's a Led Zeppelin thing going on there.
T.L.: That's exactly what MTV said. In fact they called Led Zeppelin.
They called Plant and Page to find out what they thought about it, but
they got no comment. It's not exactly the same. The beat is kind of
turned around, but I used the chord progression from that. I just
thought this'll be wacky if I play it on an upright bass with a bow --
that's what I play it on.
AMZ: Yes. The bowed bass kind of took me by surprised.
T.L.: Yeah, well I play it a lot with King Crimson in a rock fashion,
but of course it's not a guitar, so in no way does it sound like Jimmy
Page. Not to mention that we don't have any melody on it. So it's a
little like Kashmir. People who know Kashmir will recognize the riff,
but it doesn't go very far in that direction. Pretty soon David Torn's
wailing guitar loops come in which have nothing to do with Led
Zeppelin. But it was fun and one of those things I thought we'll try it
and we'll see. We actually recorded a great deal of music because it
went well and easily in the studio and we couldn't even use close to
what we had.
AMZ: Okay, let's switch gears here a little bit and talk about the Funk
Fingers. I first saw you use them with Gabriel on his last tour and I
thought it was a joke, but it turns out nothing like a joke.
T.L.: Yeah. I have a Funk Finger section on the Web for the whole
story, but what I did, I started selling them just as something to
offer from Papa Bear records other than my first album when I just had
the first album that seemed so lonely up there on the site. So I had my
technician making them for years but I only need one pair. So I asked
him to make a few more pairs and it's been a pretty decent response
from bass players. You wouldn't believe how many. I think over 900 funk
fingers have been sold. They're not expensive or anything, but my
intention first of all was to have something interesting up there and
second of all what's going to happen if a bunch of bass players get
this. I wonder what they'll do with them. So I put a page up on the
site devoted to any comments from Funk Finger users. So it's kind of
the Funk Finger center of the world is on Papa Bear records.
AMZ: What were you expecting to get from them? I mean, was it a special sound?
T.L.: Well, I'll tell you the story very quickly. On Peter Gabriel's
"So" album two albums ago, one piece called "Big Time", I asked Jerry
Marotta the drummer to drum on my bass strings. It just seemed like a
good idea at the time -- it might be interesting on that piece -- and
it made it onto the record. So he's drumming on the strings while I do
the fingering with my left hand. So then the next year we were touring
and I was attempting to play this with a drum stick in my hand. One day
at sound check Peter Gabriel walked by me and said "Hey Tony, have you
ever thought of trying to attach drum sticks to your fingers?" And
that's how they were born! It's a great idea and I said oh that's
interesting, so I sent my technician to work on it and we spent really
years adjusting them. They didn't just work at first. If they were too
heavy they would break the strings. If they were too light they'd
bounce too much. If they were too loose they'd go flying off my fingers
-- which happened many times -- and if they were too tight my fingers
would turn purple. But eventually with the help of stretch velcro and a
rubberized material for the ends that doesn't break, we got the things
that became Funk Fingers. It's been one of those odd things. They're
not for everybody. For years, like when you saw me I was the only guy
playing them. But now there are other guys playing them. I must say I
haven't heard any of them, but I am looking forward to it. So it's not
like an approach to playing that I want to keep for myself, I'm just
happy to throw it out there and see if anyone has fun with it.
AMZ: As far as going live now . . . How are you going to be able to promote all the projects you're working on?
T.L. : Well now I'm in a different mode right now. Except for this
interview I'm rehearsing today and tomorrow then the next day I'm going
to Japan and I'm going back to being a bass and stick player. Believe
me, I'm happy about that. Frankly, I love playing live more than I love
making records. And we've already found in rehearsal that the material
is going to move a lot from what it was and we're just going to be very
fascinating. It's not going to be just a matter of playing what's on
the album. It'll be really exciting and fun for the audience.
AMZ: You'll have the same line-up as on the album? The same four?
T.L. : Exactly.
AMZ: You'll be playing smaller venues like Toad's in New Haven and the Knitting Factory in New York City.
T.L.: Yeah. To save time, people can look on the Website. I have a
complete itinerary there. I even go so far as to put cafes to get good
espresso near the venues because that's what I like and I didn't know
where they were. So I put the question out to visitors to the Web page.
I got lots of responses so I put them up.
AMZ: One more question kind of off-topic before we cut this off. You
just recently finished recording some new music with Peter Gabriel.
Will you be supporting him on his next tour?
T.L.: I will, but even though we're finished with the rhythm tracks,
there's no telling how long it will take him to finish with the album.
He hasn't finished the lyrics. When Peter does finish the lyrics, I'm
certainly on most of the rhythm tracks and I'd love to tour with him,
so I assume that I'm going to tour with him.
AMZ: Well Tony, thank you so much for the interview. Best of luck to
you on the tour and with "Upper Extremities". I really hope I can catch
one of the shows!
T.L.: I hope so too. Thanks a lot.
It's the return of the acoustic Bill Bruford! Take away all those
electronic toys and it's 1973 all over again with a new improved twist.
While Robert Fripp is off touring with his King Crimson/Project Two
band, BLUE (Bruford Levin Upper Extremities) is tearing up the
northeast United States coast after a Japanese tour. At the Knitting
Factory last night, an excited crowd packed a mostly standing room
venue - i.e. little or no seats to start with.
Master percussionist Bruford (King Crimson, Earthworks, founding member
of Yes) started the evenings proceedings with a drum solo shortly to be
joined by co-leader Tony Levin on bass and stick. While the
polyrhythmic Bruford performed his amazing drum styling updated for
this tour, Levin skronked a couple of notes on an electric upright bass
by sawing close to the bridge and bouncing the bow on the strings.
Post-Hendrix texturalist David Torn trotted on stage to add his guitar
soon to be followed by trumpet player Chris Botti.
While the are similarities - Bruford, Levin & Torn recorded with
trumpet player Mark Isham on 1987's Cloud About Mercury (ECM) - this
band sometimes sounds more like King Crimson. On Fin de Siecle, the
band started with a chromatic unison riff that lead to a classic
Crimson twister. A middle section recalled both Cloud About Mercury and
Crimson's 1974 classic Red: a trumpet and bass melody (Cloud About
Mercury) with a repeating guitar part that was very Fripp (Red). Unlike
the cd, most of the compositions at this concert were stretched out and
improvised upon.
Cracking the Midnight's Glass gave way to a bass riff reminiscent of
Led Zepplelin's Kashmir while Torn (solo, David Sylvian) abused his
guitar - here's a guitarist who's not afraid to snap out those upper
harmonics with a lot of distortion! Unfortunately, even when he showed
off his stream-of-notes Holdsworth legato, the over abundant reverb
from the board made his sound muddy. Torn spent as much time playing
his guitar as generating undulating sheets of sound from his digital
signal processing equipment. During the encore, he waved a tape
recorder playing what sounded like a mid-eastern singer next to his
guitar pickups and caught the sound in a digital loop, bringing it back
many times for effect.
Shades of Miles: I always thought that Cloud About Mercury was the
ultimate direction for Miles Davis - the album he never made. Chris
Botti (Paul Simon, Blue Nile) suggested Miles but Botti's trumpet also
had too much reverb, but in a way, this was perfect for the ethereal
melodies he was spinning. An exceptional horn player perfect for this
band.
Co-leader Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) held down the music with
his distinctive bass. Always solid and never a parody of his past, it
is refreshing to hear an artist grow. With this concert, Bruford and
Levin show that there is life outside of King Crimson by research
independent research. While at the top of his form, Bruford in
particular hasn't shown any growth since 1989's Anderson Bruford
Wakeman Howe. Let's hope there is more to the band Bruford Levin. Maybe
more albums and tours with other soloist's - might I suggest Bill
Frissell and/or Pat Metheny?
db - 4/19/1998
Bill Bruford and Tony Levin were the mainstays of the 1980s and 1990s
King Crimson, one of rock's most consistently creative groups, and
together are among the best rhythm sections in rock music. They played
with David Torn on Torn's 1987 release Clouds About Mercury, and in
1998 they got together with him again. As on Clouds, they formed a
quartet with a trumpeter, but instead of Mark Isham they enlisted Chris
Botti, since Levin had worked on Botti's 1997 Midnight Without You
release. On about half the tracks, Bruford, Levin and Torn display a
high-energy rock music, like the opening "Cerulean Sea," with Torn and
Bruford playing in polyrhythms, and "Cracking the Midnight Glass," a
powerful piece with echoes of Led Zeppelin that Bruford calls "the
power trio incarnate." The three also play some quiet, atmospheric
music on "Thick With Thin Air," which is also one of the showpieces
here for Bruford's electronic drums. Chris Botti plays on the other
half, and provides them with a cool jazz feeling. His melodic work is
highlighted on the jazzy Bruford composition "Original Sin" and in a
lovely duet with Levin on "Fin de Siècle," but his trumpet adds
coloring in the fanfares of "Presidents Day," the haunting lead of
"Deeper Blue," and the reprise of an etude from Levin's solo album
World Diary. There are also a number of short interludes of Bruford
playing a derelict piano in Levin's garage, and both Bruford and Levin
simultaneously playing a drum and bass contraption.