 |
|
| Music Forum Index » Acid Jazz Forum » Alexander Shulgin - Triptych, Part II; ft. Gary... |
|
Page 1 of 1 |
|
| Author |
Message |
| Marios... |
 Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:49 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
By Will J.B. Cohn, MusicDish e-Journal
Considering that people these days have an insatiable desire to be
entertained at all times (part of the ADD generation that kids are
growing up in), it's hard to believe that a minimalist album will hold
a listeners attention for very long. With the absence of bass and
drums, the music is extremely exposed, and there is risk of boring the
listener to death. However, if performed by the right musicians (in
this case Gary Husband and Martin Taylor) and composed by a talented
composer like Alexander Shulgin, it can be a unique listening
experience.
Alexander Shulgin's Part 2 of his new album Triptych is a minimalist
album, with only a single musician on all tracks, except the last. All
the songs are Shulgin's compositions, but Gary Husband (a well-known
jazz multi-instrumentalist) is the one performing them on piano. Over
the years Gary Husband has played for many of the jazz heavyweights
out there, including Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin, Mike Stern,
and Billy Cobham.
What makes the album most effective is the combination of Shulgin's
strong compositions along with the creative interpretation of these
compositions by Husband. For instance, while the second track,
"Primadonna", contains the dark and ominous chord voicing of Shulgin,
Husband is incorporating bluesy licks in the open space. On
"Snowstormie", the chords are characteristic of Shulgin, but the jazz
lines that are played over these chords are clearly Husband's ideas
coming into play. Sometimes, different musical ideas clash, but in
this case, the choices that Husband makes as the player and the
choices that Shulgin makes as the composer complement each other, and
mesh into a strong finished product.
The last track, entitled "Woman's Happiness Theme" features the guitar
playing of Martin Taylor, a well-known British jazz guitarist, whose
warm and clean sound adds a welcome and long-overdue new layer to the
sound of the acoustic piano. Throughout the track, Taylor and Husband
give each other room to breath. When Taylor is playing lead, Husband
takes a back seat, providing the chords in the background and allowing
Taylor to show-off his jazz chops.
The addition of Martin Taylor works so well that I find it surprising
that he plays on only the last song. In fact, since Taylor is most
well known as a solo performer, I wouldn't mind if one or two tracks
were just him. Although the acoustic piano sound is easy on the ears,
after several tracks in a row, the album appears to be a craving a
different color, and this craving is satisfied only at the very end.
Regardless, Shulgin's compositions are strong enough to get past the
repetitive timbre, and along with Husband's creative interpretation of
the compositions, the album is a success. And, depending on how ADD
you are, it should hold your attention.
http://www.myspace.com/shulginalexander
http://alexandershulgin.musicdish.net |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:42 am
|
|