Gefion (ECM) More than most instrumentalists guitarists influence one another across idioms as well as generations. Django Reinhardt, BB King, Paco de Lucia, Chet Atkins and Jimi Hendrix are examples, as, more recently, is Bill Frisell, who has clearly inspired the brilliant Danish guitarist Jacob Bro. It being an influence…
Category: Album Reviews – Archive
Power of the Idea (Jazzhead) Although saxophonist Robert Burke calls the album Power of the Idea, what actually pushes you back in your seat is the power of the playing. It is raw and visceral, riding on momentum as unstoppable as a driverless bulldozer with cruise control. Burke and his…
Switzerland 1974 (Cuneiform) Time telescoped in the late-’60s/early-’70s. Year by year artists ranging from Miles Davis to Frank Zappa to David Bowie reinvented themselves, and Soft Machine was no different. Virtually no consecutive Softs albums ever had identical personnel, and with new members came new material. By 1974, when this…