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Tony Levin: Levin Torn White

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Lazy Bones Recordings
Released: 2011.09.13
Time:
 55:16
Category: Progressive Rock
Producer(s): Tony Levin, Scott Schorr
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.levintornwhite.com
Appears with: King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd
Purchase date: 2014
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] No Warning Lights (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 2:10
[2] Ultra Mullett (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:41
[3] White Noise (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 2:57
[4] The Hood Fell (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 3:35
[5] Monkey Mind (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:27
[6] Cheese It, The Corpse (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:48
[7] Convergence (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:08
[8] Pillowfull Of Dark (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:18
[9] The Eggman Cometh (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 1:32
[10] Sleeping Horse (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 5:34
[11] Prom Night Of The Centipedes (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:40
[12] Crunch Time (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:04
[13] Brain Tatoo (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 3:15
[14] Lights Out (T.Levin/D.Thorn/A.White) - 4:59

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Tony Levin - Bass & Chapman Stick, Producer
David Torn - Guitar & Textural Events
Alan White - Drums & Percussion

Scott Schorr - Producer

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2011 CD Lazy Bones 7 39523 73641 6


Some combinations are truly unique, a breed apart that stretches even known factors into interesting new spaces. This is absolutely the case with Levin Torn White, the debut collaboration of powerhouse, ultra-high-end players Tony Levin (bass, Chapman stick), David Torn (guitars, textural events) and Alan White (drums, percussion). The album, which arrives today on Lazy Bones Recordings, is a fearless rush that’s a bit metallic, a bit avant-garde, a bit groovy, hell, a bit of a LOT of things. Bringing with them a pedigree that includes Peter Gabriel & King Crimson (Levin), an ECM Records mainstay and collaborator with David Bowie, John Legend and Jeff Beck (Torn), and Yes (White, who’s also done sessions with Plastic Ono Band, George Harrison and countless others), Levin Torn White offers genuinely adventurous instrumental music that vibrates sympathetically with Les Claypool, Umphrey’s McGee, Garage A Trois and other jam/new music standouts. Except this album really sounds like no one else, including the trio’s own past work - this is something new.

A healthy amount of credit must go to co-producer and arranger Scott Schorr, who also plays piano & keyboards on the album. Schorr has steered these veterans into fresh waters and put a strong wind at their backs. Only occasionally do the musicians resort to old habits, clearly excited to be sailing into unknown territory. Titles like “Ultra Mullett,” “Cheese It, The Corpse” and “Brain Tattoo” hint at this set’s playfulness as well as its penchant for heaviness. The amps here most assuredly go to “11” but never in a haphazard or showy manner; volume and distortion are just two tools in their well stocked kit. One senses how much these players listened to one another, moving with sureness over even slippery trails. It’s a bloody exciting album and one any fan of thoughtful, original jamming should explore.

Dennis Cook
© Copyright 1998-2015 JamBase.com



Pity poor Alan White. The British drummer had racked up plenty of street cred playing on projects by then-ex-The Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison, Joe Cocker and Free's Paul Kossoff, when progressive rockers Yes came knocking in 1973, looking to replace Bill Bruford, who'd departed, on the cusp of massive commercial success, to join up with the more improv-heavy King Crimson. Forty years later, White is still working in a group that struggles for relevancy in the 21st century—still relying predominantly on music from its glory days of 1970-1977, despite releasing new albums like the tepid Fly From Here (Frontiers, 2011)—and, while proving himself to be a fine drummer, the Bruford comparisons continue to this day.

Torn Levin White won't do much to stop ongoing comparisons between White and Bruford, given that bassist/Chapman Stick man Tony Levin (another Crimson alum) and guitarist David Torn have worked with Bruford in the past, on Torn's superb Cloud About Mercury (ECM, 1985) and, more recently, in the short-lived Bruford Levin Upper Extremities group that, with trumpeter Chris Botti, released two superb albums around the turn of the millennium. But if White's playing has come under fire in recent years—accused of being at least partially responsible for Yes' funereally down-tempo'd live performances—then Levin Torn White should go a long way towards vindicating him. He may still lack Bruford's instantaneously identifiable personality, but he's playing with more fire—more hunger—than he has in years; clearly a change of scenery is just what the doctor ordered.

Leaning further away from the free jazz proclivities of Prezens (ECM, 2007) and more towards the progressive rock end of the spectrum, Torn's ability to create dense sound sculptures has never sounded better. If there's a North American equivalent to the extra-guitar explorations of Norway's Eivind Aarset and the younger Stian Westerhus, it's Torn, his ability to soar into remarkable extremes of controlled feedback on "Ultra Mullett" matched by the stratospheric cloud cover hovering over "Convergence," where his strummed chords and snaking lines add a David Lynch vibe to this, one of fourteen cinematic explorations born of in-the-studio improvs shaped into discrete pieces in post-production, with the able assistance of co-producer Scott Schorr.

Levin has long since transcended the need to prove anything, but the ever-unshakable groove-meister is also at his recent best here, whether it's the fuzz bass-driven "The Hood Fell," which harkens back to "Cerulean Sea" on Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (DGM Live, 1998), or the tapped Chapman Stick-driven, metrically challenging "Monkey Mind," where White may not demonstrate the same mathematical, polyrhythmic complexities as Bruford, but rocks it with unbridled energy and the biggest sound he's ever had.

A powerful addition to the canon innovated by Torn, B.L.U.E. and the various ProjeKcts instigated by King Crimson's Robert Fripp as a means of wood-shedding new ideas, Levin Torn White not only feeds a jones for the more experimental side of instrumental progressive rock, it lays to rest all concerns about Alan White's Yes work—and suggests it's time the 62 year-old drummer be allowed to come out from under Bruford's long shadow.

JOHN KELMAN - October 10, 2011
© 2014 All About Jazz



September 13th will be the official release date for an exciting Progressive Rock collaboration by Tony LEVIN (Bass and Chapman Stick), David TORN (Guitar and Textural Events) and Alan WHITE (from Yes) on drums and percussions.

Three brilliant avant-garde musicians band together on this astounding CD. If you re a fan of Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock Fusion,Psychedelia or Space Rock you will certainly savor this creation. The CD was produced by Scott Schorr and Tony Levin for Lazy Bones Recordings.

In an age of American Idol and Glee lunacy it s refreshing to satisfy the psyche with imaginative and elaborate euphony. Spacey tracks like Ultra Mullett, Convergence and Sleeping Horse (shades of Pink Floyd) will certainly rekindle the senses. Imagine relinquishing your consciousness to a mind-blowing experience of eclectic sounds reminiscent of King Crimson/Pink Floyd/Frank Zappa/Jeff Beck/Tangerine Dream/Gentle Giant and The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Prog Rock is back with surrealistic vengeance thanks to Tony LEVIN David TORN and Alan WHITE. And the production work by Scott Schorr is extraordinary. So detach your mind from a needed reality break and buy this mind-altering CD.

Ray Shasho - St Petersburg Examiner



Classic progressive rock is alive and well thank you. For those of you geeks (present company included,) that are hungry for some new musical pyrotechnics, you will love the new dish served up by bass and stick man, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson , Stick Men and more...), David Torn (David Bowie, Tori Amos, John Legend and more...) and the Northwest's own AlanWhite, Yes, Plastic Ono Band and more...) Heck, this is more than a tasty dish, it is an invariable avant-garde, art rock / fusion smorgasbord.

Here is another way to put it. King Crimson, Frank Zappa and Return to Forever had a baby and its name is Levin,Torn White, prog rock's newest super group.

Their first self-titled, debut album drops tomorrow (Tuesday, September 13th). The project is the brainchild of former Seattle resident Scott Schorr and Tony Levin and was produced for the Lazy Bones Recordings label.

According to White, the band did some sessions together but also recorded most of the project virtually from various locations.

When three world-class musicians with impeccible pedigrees and respective discographies that would take an entire lunch hour to go through, get together, three things are bound to happen... paradigms shift, artistic barriers get broken and minds get blown.

I am not even going to attempt to review a record like this one. The effort would be a futile. Sometime musicians and media types like me have a tendency to put things into nice and neat little music boxes because it is part of our conditioning process. If we put it in a box we can give it order, have it make sense and then communicate our expert opinions (tongue firmly planted in cheek) to others in perfect linear fashion. With certain artists and music it is easier to do but in this case...not so much. Levin Torn White is as non-linear as it gets.

Here is the deal folks. If you like one of the most innovative bassists in music history, one of rocks most powerful, soulful and technically proficient skin pounders in the game and a guitarist whose tones will peel paint off your wall, doing their thing together, you will dig this record.

Levin and White run in the same circles and have played with a lot of the same cats. Levin even played on the Yes album, entitled "Union" which was released in 1991. Levin had been working with Anderson, Bruford, Wakemen Howe prior. If it was not for an illness, he would have been part of some of the Union Tour shows.

After all of these years of being part of a very elite prog rock club, this is the first dedicated and tangible project the two have done together. When I spoke to White this past weekend he had this to say about working with Levin. "He is absolutely world class and very innovative. A lot of people have tried to copy him but he is Mr. Stick man."

The bottom line is that this is music that cannot be explained it simply must be heard and / or experienced and even after a healthy listen you may be asking yourself, "What just happened?" And that my friends is exactly the proper reaction when you sit down and listen to a finely crafted and produced progressive rock record with three of the best in the business.

Greg Roth, Seattle Music Examiner



Some combinations are truly unique, a breed apart that stretches even known factors into interesting new spaces. This is absolutely the case with Levin Torn White, the debut collaboration of powerhouse, ultra-high-end players Tony Levin (bass, Chapman stick), David Torn (guitars, textural events) and Alan White (drums, percussion). The album, which arrives today on Lazy Bones Recordings, is a fearless rush that s a bit metallic, a bit avant-garde, a bit groovy, hell, a bit of a LOT of things. Bringing with them a pedigree that includes Peter Gabriel & King Crimson (Levin), an ECM Records mainstay and collaborator with David Bowie, John Legend and Jeff Beck (Torn), and Yes (White, who s also done sessions with Plastic Ono Band, George Harrison and countless others), Levin Torn White offers genuinely adventurous instrumental music that vibrates sympathetically with Les Claypool, Umphrey s McGee, Garage A Trois and other jam/new music standouts. Except this album really sounds like no one else, including the trio s own past work - this is something new.

A healthy amount of credit must go to co-producer and arranger Scott Schorr, who also plays piano & keyboards on the album. Schorr has steered these veterans into fresh waters and put a strong wind at their backs. Only occasionally do the musicians resort to old habits, clearly excited to be sailing into unknown territory. Titles like Ultra Mullett, Cheese It, The Corpse and Brain Tattoo hint at this set s playfulness as well as its penchant for heaviness. The amps here most assuredly go to 11 but never in a haphazard or showy manner; volume and distortion are just two tools in their well stocked kit. One senses how much these players listened to one another, moving with sureness over even slippery trails. It s a bloody exciting album and one any fan of thoughtful, original jamming should explore.

Dennis Cook - Jambase.com
 

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