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Alex Machacek

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 15, 2006)
• Original Release Date: August 15, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Abstract Logix
• ASIN: B000G1R44I
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #224,674 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > Austria

Editorial Reviews

Terry Bozzio

"I'm honoured to be a part of this masterpiece."

Product Description

Combining jaw-dropping technique with a fertile imagination and a playful sense of humor, the Austrian six-string phenom has concocted an audaciously brilliant manifesto in "[sic]". Imagine a composite of Allan Holdsworth's stunning legato chops and advanced harmonic language with Mike Keneally's exacting virtuosity and Frank Zappa's fiercely uncompromising "difficult music" and you're getting close to where this visionary new talent is currently operating. He is perhaps the only guitarist on the planet who could cut the impossible charts of Zappa's Jazz From Hell and simultaneously breathe life into them.

Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times, Jazziz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Getting there, November 6, 2006

By	wux laroux "lacroix" (DC via NY) - See all my reviews

The tag from Amazon was "Imagine a composite of Allan Holdsworth's stunning legato chops and advanced harmonic language with Mike Keneally's exacting virtuosity and Frank Zappa's fiercely uncompromising "difficult music" and you're getting close to where this visionary new talent is currently operating." I may be showing my age, but I recall fusion as Coryell and the 11th House, Johnny Mac and Mahavishnu, as well as Al DiMeola's guitar work with Chick Corea and Return To Forever. In the 90's the great late Shawn Lane provided some excitement. Machacek's ['sic"] aspires to greatness but somehow it sounds like so much of what is being played today, instead of bringing forth something truly unique. I urge listeners to buy this opus and then listen to it back to back with Industrial Zen (McLaughlin) or Traffic (Coryell White and Bailey). Bozzio fans should hear his work with Frank and/or Jeff Beck. The masters still have a lot to teach the kids.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Gift!, April 15, 2008

By	Irfan A. Alvi (Towson, MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Are you ready for virtuosic fusion from the year 2020, but available today? This masterpiece delivers on all fronts.

The musicianship is of course impeccable. Alex clearly has chops to spare, and having Terry Bozzio on drums speaks for itself.

But this album is by no means simply about technical display. The real joy comes, as it should, from the compositional excellence, which has it all: fresh creativity, stimulating complexity, unexpected twists and turns, layers of detail and nuance, plenty of soul, and humor and wit to boot.

And last but not least, the recording quality is fabulous, with crystalline clarity and transparency.

Very strongly recommended for any fan of fusion, especially guitar fusion!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excelent 'Holdsworth & zappa influenced music', June 15, 2007

By	M. Hiraldo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you liked those fast runs of bass, vibraphone, keys and guitar in unison, then this is filled with that zappa-esque styled jazz-rock-classical-avant kind of music. Machacek also brings something new to the table with his own vision and very well thought, detailed, compositions, AND let's not forget his incredible playing technique...really no one to compare him with. There are 3 trio tracks which are a bit more in the jazz side of things which are also mind blowing. Don't miss it!