Alain Caron: Sep7entrion (2010)

Becoming a professional musician at a very early age, Alain Caron is a considerably accomplished bass player. He attended the Berklee College of Music. One of his first excursions into jazz was playing with the Vic Vogel Big Band during the 1970s. In 1977 he co-founded the group UZEB. Their first album, Live in Bracknell, was released in 1981. The following year saw the group putting out Fast Emotion. The next album was 1984's You Be Easy. 1985 saw them release Between the Lines. Two more live albums, Live a l'Olympia and Absolutely Live came out in 1986. The group released Noisy Nights and Live in Europe in 1988. The following year saw the release of UZEB Club. World Tour '90 was released in 1990. In 1992, Caron formed his own group, le Band and released the first album by that group, Alain Caron — le Band. He also found time to record a bass duet album with Michel Donato and perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival with UZEB. 1993 saw Caron record with Leni Stern, tour with that band, as well as doing a tour of Quebec with le Band and performing with Donato — Caron. The next year saw the first major tour of his group as well as some other performances with other musicians. 1995 saw the release by le Band of Rhythm 'n Jazz and another European tour for the group. For the next couple of years he frantically performed with a number of different artists. The third le Band album, Play, was also released in 1997. Again, he took a couple more years performing with various artists, including le Band and, notably, Gino Vanelli. In 2000 he released the fourth album by le Band, Call Me Al!. ~ Gary Hill

Three years following the release of his album Conversations, an intimate DUOS album with his closest friends and collaborators, Alain Caron renews and returns to his roots with this exciting JAZZ FUSION album Sep7entrion. On this new release, Alain does not disappoint and takes on the genre head-on, giving you a fresh look at FUSION in 2010. The musical nuances of the past decades find there way into this new opus along with a style, virtuosity and vocabulary that is strictly CARON.

The album regroups nine titles that tacitly fuse traditional jazz, rock, funk, touches of African influences and south-American music. To achieve this, Alain Caron surrounded himself with renowned musicians from all over the world yielding a meld of styles that is remarkable and refreshing. Guitarists Pierre Ciґte (Canada), Jean-Marie Ecay (France) and the legendary guitarist Frank Gambale (Australia and U.S.). Pianists John Roney (Canada), Otmaro Ruiz (Venezuela-U.S.) and Tony Raymond (France). Violinist Christophe Raymond (France) and drummer Damien Schmitt (France-U.S.), a young prodigy that will astound you.

The album title Sep7entrion (Septentrion) was chosen to highlight Alain`s Nordic roots and punctuate the fact that this is his seventh studio album to date.

Tracklist

1.1-4-U

2.Enhanced

3.Double Action

4.Fair Play

5.Cross Check

6.Soleir Rouge

7.This Or That

8.De L'aube Au Crepuscule
9.Simple Pleasures
Sep7entrion
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Anthony Jackson - Yiorgos Fakanas: Interspirit (2010)

For over 40 years Anthony Jackson has been the bassist's bassist; the man most admired by his peers for his groundbreaking groove work in jazz and pop with the likes of Billy Paul, the O'Jays, Buddy Rich, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Chick Corea, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Al DiMeola, Quincy Jones, Steve Khan's Eyewitness, Luther Vandross, Lee Ritenour, Michel Petrucciani, Pat Metheny, Michel Camilo, Mike Stern and Wayne Krantz. Jackson's conception and invention of the 6-string contrabass guitar led to further lauding from his low-end colleagues and resulted in the global standardization of extended-range basses, changing the sound of contemporary music from the bottom up. Additionally, Anthony's landmark use of a pick and flanger pedal on the O'Jays' smash, For the Love of Money, revealed a unique sound and approach that remains one of his signatures. About the only milestone missing from Jackson's remarkable career is a solo album. Being neither a composer, nor known for taking solos, however, Anthony has resisted countless offers (beginning with one from Quincy Jones in 1978). Until now.

Jackson's close friend, celebrated Greek composer/bassist Yiorgos Fakanas, proposed a project featuring the two bassmen, for which he would compose contemporary chamber music utilizing a rhythm section, horn section and string quintet. Jackson would then be able to define his role. This appealed to Anthony's uncompromising commitment to artistry, and he consented, choosing two of his strengths: Reviving and advancing his picking technique to fully interpret Fakanas's extremely challenging melodies (including double tracking them, often an octave apart), and providing the written as well as improvised bass lines behind soloists - a skill at which he is without equal. Fakanas, highly accomplished in his own right, would contribute all (five) of the bass solos. Recorded in 2009, in Athens and Connecticut, the CD brings together many of Greece's finest jazz and classical musicians - including alto saxophonist Takis Patarelis and trombonist Antonis Andreou - while starring such international heavyweights as drummer Dave Weckl, guitarist Frank Gambale, keyboardist Mitch Forman and saxophonist Tony Lakatos.

The nine-track disc erupts via the volcanic opener, Inner Power, with Weckl's double-time fusion-funk groove fueling Jackson's fearless flatpick foray through the tortuous melody. In divine contrast is Anthony's palm-muted quarter-note swath beneath Forman's synth solo, further engaged by Jackson's spontaneous reharmonization. Anthony and Yiorgos (on fretless) explore Wayne Shorter's Footprints through theme and variation, before brightly coloring the pleasing Cuore Vibes Part 2 with chord melody. On both tracks, the duo's differing approaches to their instrument are clearly audible. Summoning Isaac Hayes and Bob James' CTI days, the soul-tinged title track pivots on Jackson's bass line melody and Fakanas' ensemble counterpoint. Meanwhile, the brooding Seviglia recalls Return To Forever and Anthony's pivotal precision pick work with Al DiMeola, while showcasing his best pick-and-flange tone to date.

All credit is due Fakanas for recognizing Jackson's original voice and for creating a touchstone vehicle for his one-of-a-kind talent. Interspirit's impact is immediate, while its deep layers demand repeated listenings. Either way, spread the word: Anthony Jackson's solo statement has arrived!

Tracklist:

1. Inner Power 8:40

2. Footprints 9:06
3. Cuore Vibes Part 1 1:31
4. Cuore Vibes Part 2 10:09
5. Interspirit 9:41
6. Seviglia 10:01
7. Caldera 8:41
8. Ionio II 8:10
9. Parhelia 7:54
Interspirit
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School of the Arts: ST (2007)

Cutting-edge compositions, beautiful sinuous melodies, and massive chops make School of the Arts (SOTA) a truly rare confluence of influences and musical styles, pushing jazz and jazz-fusion into another dimension.

The brainchild of keyboardist extraordinaire T Lavitz (Dixie Dregs, Jazz Is Dead), SOTA culls the supreme talents of such fusion and progressive instrumental music heavyweights as drummer Dave Weckl (Chick Corea) bassist John Patitucci (Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter), guitarist Frank Gambale (Corea, Vital Information), electric violinist Jerry Goodman of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shadowfax, and Dixie Dregs fame, and T s longtime friend, Dregs mastermind, and Magna Carta label mate, monster axeman Steve Morse.

School of the Arts is different from every album I ve ever done as a leader, says Lavitz

With SOTA, Lavitz (with four decades experience in the music biz having played with such wide-ranging musicians as Widespread Panic, Bill Bruford, Billy Cobham, Nils Lofgren, Pat Benatar, Jefferson Starship, Mother s Finest, Dave Fiuczynski, Peter Himmelman, Dennis Chambers, Jeff Berlin, and Scott Henderson) is top dog, playing acoustic piano (an instrument close to his heart), and composing most of the material for the band s debut.

Underscoring Lavitz s empathy and musical instincts, is the keyboardist s ability to spearhead and hold together the SOTA project, despite each member s busy schedule: Morse is constantly touring with Deep Purple (occasionally with the Dregs); Jerry Goodman is an in-demand electric violin trailblazer; Patitucci and Weckl crisscross the globe with various artists and solo work; and likewise for Gambale, who recently finished a tour with Billy Cobham.

The music is definitely interactive, Lavitz says. When I take a solo, there s Frank Gambale answering me, like something you d hear on a gig.

Case in point: the Afro-Latin acoustic jazz tune Gambashwari. Sinewy guitar and piano chords/notes weave around one another in syncopated patterns, stating main, contra and counterpoint melodies. It s breezy, not cheesy, jazz -- the kind that possesses sophistication without being elitist, boring or unlistenable. It s utterly infectious jazz-fusion with aspirations toward chamber or classical music, with rock s reckless abandon simmering just under the surface.

Other tracks include, High Falutin Blues (an appropriate title for a song that crosses the boundaries of country, blues, and jazz), Like This (listen as Weckl locks into Patitucci s sparse bass line all the while commenting on Goodman s and T s jazzy/bluegrass-esque soloing acrobatics), and Teaser (a Chick Corea-style acoustic rocker, complete with trill-filled piano performances, blanketed by Weckl s silky stream of beats). Dave Weckl laid down some of the best drum tracks I ve heard in a while, Lavitz says.

Despite the obvious and some might say inevitable chops heard on this record, the high level of musicianship never detracts from the overall flow of the compositions. In fact, the record has a ring of newfound freedom; of a songwriter allowed to spread his compositional wings, which recalls the artistic creativity and motivation that drove Lavitz to create his 1986 solo debut, Storytime an album produced in the wake of a Dregs breakup. I am very excited about this, because not only did I get to write the bulk of the music, but I produced, played and played only acoustic, says Lavitz. While it has elements from other recordings I've done, it seems, at least to me, to stand out as being very different.

Personnel:

T Lavitz - Piano;

Frank Gambale - Acoustic Guitar;

Steve Morse - Acoustic Guitar;
Jerry Goodman - Violin;
John Patitucci - Acoustic and Electric Bass ;
Dave Weckl - Drums and Percussion
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SOTA (RS) / SOTA (HF) @ 320K