Customer Reviews

If Summer Had Its Ghosts

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bill is not showing mediocrity-far from it. He is showing maturity. This CD features the enormous talents of Ralph Towner and Eddie Gomez. If you do not like the genre, that is one thing. But writing off the efforts of three of the world's finest musicians is very silly to me. For example, if you want to learn how to play a ballad, one of the hardest musical forms to master, listen to "Forgiveness". Very insightful. Sure, Bill trims it down a bit, but good for him! I believe the playing on this album shows that musicians can grow and stretch when they restrain themselves from doing what they're expected to do. Just a thought.

I'll start by saying I wasn't sure what to expect when I got this cd, some ten years ago, but knew I would probably like it. I grew up with One of a Kind blowing me away time after time, and his work with Crimson is unmatched. Especially live. Having followed both Bill and Ralph for three decades now, I can't help but have high expectations. Being a guitar player, Ralph has been my favorite player for many years. It is an unlikely collaboration, in light of their respective backgrounds, but the chemistry is evident from the start. Thistledown is my favorite track, and probably has more plays on my iPod than almost anything else. I own pretty much every Towner record, all the early Yes, Crimson, tons of Bill Evans stuff with Gomez, and find myself choosing this over any of that much of the time. It is timeless, comfort food for the soul.

This is a slightly incongruous trio: King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford fronting a trio including Oregon's Ralph Towner on guitars (classical and 12-string) and keyboards and ex-Bill Evans sideman Eddie Gomez on bass. Amazingly enough, it works--all three musicians seem to be having a ball playing Bruford's stuff (he wrote most of the songs, with Gomez and Towner each contributing one composition). The opening seconds of this CD lure us right in--Bruford's rhythm, Towner's shadings, and Gomez's energy jump right out at you, with all three musicians asserting themselves and all three making colorful contributions to the whole.

For me, it is Towner who makes this recording special, really digging into his guitar, showing that you do not need to be plugged in to project color and intensity. But Gomez and Bruford also contribute, the net result being a trio album with a unique sonority. The recording is excellent--clean and open and dynamic.

Although this disc is catalogued as a "Bill Bruford" album, when you have a certain Ralph Towner doubling on guitar & keyboards it's not hard to guess who's really the main "star" of the show. In this context the album is probably more typical of Towner than Bruford (especially of the "Yes" variety!) but, this said, don't worry about Bruford's contribution here as it's excellent.
Overall this album's really quite cool & boppy with strong compositions & all tracks displaying good swing, nice changes of tempo, mood & syncopation & good soloing space offered to all EXCEPT Bruford himself - this said his drum work is perfectly fine & in fact quite inventive in parts. All parts of the drum kit are given a solid workout with the possible exception of the bass drum. Gomez certainly makes his presence felt on this album too with more than one excellent solo & perfectly fine support work.
What's really nice for me, however, is hearing Towner in a trio setting as he's mainly noted for his work NOT in Trios (think innumerable solo albums, duos with Gary Burton et al & his work with the four piece Oregon). And he really, REALLY shines on this disc, composing, arranging & carrying "most" of the performance duties (although interestingly there's not a lot of guitar/piano overdubbing - it's usually one or the other). It's also particularly nice to hear him on acoustic piano in a trio setting - he really is an excellent piano player & it strikes me that this disc should particularly appeal to Oregon fans (as long as you can live without the excellent Paul McCandless) although the music here is certainly less "introspective" than a lot of Oregon fare.
On an album of many excellent tracks the highlights are the opener/title track, "Somersaults" (which exhibits really great work from Bruford), "Thistledown" where we do hear the piano & guitar together & with a great lyrical boppy tune it works beautifully (although unhappily fades out - for me it could've gone on & on!!) & "Splendour among the shadows" where Bruford for once gets to "rock out" just a bit.
Highly recommended!

a pleasant enough recording but i bought it because of bill bruford, the greatest progressive rock drummer. instead of synchopated rhythms and that incredible metallic snare, it has ride cymbal noodling - ting, t-ting, ting ... it's all very boring, sad to say. could have been any old jazz drummer. dunno why bruford has decided to embrace mediocrity.