Humidity

Humidity

ASIN: B00008J2S8

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Drummer Matt Wilson has a chameleon's talent for changing styles--moving from mainstream jazz to the experimental edges of the New York downtown school--and for bringing inspired energy to whatever setting he appears in. His piano-less quartet may be his most personal vehicle, however, a tight-knit working band with Andrew D'Angelo and Jeff Lederer on saxophones and clarinets, and Yosuke Inoue on acoustic and electric basses. The special energy and interplay are apparent from the opener "Thank You Billy Higgins," a vibrant, bouncing, joyous--even laughing--homage to the late drummer that also invokes Higgins's early employer, Ornette Coleman. Higgins and Coleman are frequent touchstones for Wilson and D'Angelo, as on "All My Children," but deeper roots show in Lederer's rough-hewn tenor balladry on "Don't Blame Me," and in the up-tempo version of Tadd Dameron's "Our Delight." On "Swimming in the Trees" and the title track, the band expands to a septet for two of Wilson's most developed compositional outings, where the music combines elements from tuned bells and funk rhythms to Middle Eastern modes and free-jazz wailing. Wilson's band plays with spirit and vision, and clearly has a good time doing it. --Stuart Broomer

Album Description

The Alternative Tentacles "Reissues of Necessity" is back! We've hooked another live one from the swirling depths of the most obscure, desirable, and just plain deranged. Like many early punk pioneers The Eat operated in a near-total vacuum. This time in that infamous cesspool of clueless retirees and moronic sun worshippers known as South Florida. Their classic 7"s were rare and sought after from the moment they came out, distribution was nil, most were given away at shows and crushed on the spot, some even wound up lining a parrot cage. The result is "Communist Radio" and "God Punishes the Eat" are some of the most sought after and obscenely expensive Killed By Death items on eBay. Their angle on the world has a lot to do with this. Political concerns like "Communist Radio", "Nut Cops", Kneecappin'" and "Nixon's Biinoculars." Environmental awareness like "Manatee Smacker," "M-80 Ant Death," and "Living Like a Pig" and numerous celebrations of that seedy Florida lifestyle like "Catholic Love", "Silly Drug Songs", "Money for the Police" and "Psychotic McHale's Navy." The Eat reappeared sporadically clear through the mid-'90s, yet still seem unaware how wide their cult and notoriety has spread, especially among people who've never actually heard them. So now everyone can! Both early 7"s are here, the dropouts in the five "God Punishes" songs fixed up at last, followed by the entire "Scattered Wahoo Action" cassette album and all the unreleased songs from their aborted "Hialeah" album that was chopped down to their third and final seven inch. Sound is top-floor melodic punk 'n' roll - sort of a sped-up Real Kids with rock-bottom Angry Samoans-style lyrics. Disc One's a whopping 30+ studio tracks, many never before released. But That's not all folks. CD version comes with a bonus live disc with two dozen more songs and many a crude rude remark from band to audience. If that ain't all you can Eat, you must be as big as their drummer.

Average customer rating:

Jackyl continues to rock!!
Best since the first one
Ehhhh,,,,, self titles was better!
No Rock, No Roll, No Jackyl......
Take My Word For It: It Rocks!

Relentless
Jackyl
Manufacturer: Humidity (Red)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Cut the Crap
Jackyl
Push Comes to Shove
Choice Cuts
Stayin' Alive

ASIN: B00006LSLI
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Tracks:

If You Want it Heavy (I Weigh a Ton)
I'm on Fire
Kill the Sunshine
Lend Me a Hand
Mr. Evil
Vegas Smile
Heaven Don't Want Me (And Hell's Afraid I'll Take Over)
Down the Road Before
Billy Badass
Sparks From Candy
Curse on You
The More You hate it
Open Invitation (I Hate You Bin Laden) (Bonus Track)

Customer Reviews:

Jackyl continues to rock!!.......2005-11-30

This album is a great example of what is missing in rock-n-roll. These boys from the south continue to supply plenty of great inspiration for people who love to rock!!

Best since the first one.......2005-05-30

Jackyl's somewhat disappointing Cut the Crap album, coupled with the sub-par clips of new material provided on the band's Web site, set expectations for Relentless pretty low. But listeners will be pleasantly surprised: It's a killer effort comparable to the band's 1992 self-titled debut.

Dropping most of the introspection and world-weariness that brought Cut the Crap down, Relentless returns to form with attitude, rowdiness and Southern-redneck pride galore.

"You want it heavy? / Well G-- damn / I weigh a ton," screams Jesse James Dupree in the first seconds of the record, and the "relentless" assault of loud guitars and top-of-the-lungs-but-perfectly-in-tune vocals rarely lets up through the 40-minute disc.

Some highlights are "Kill the Sunshine," written in part by Brian Johnson of AC/DC, and the blues ballad "Lend Me a Hand." The latter is one of the quieter moments on the album despite its intense chorus.

There are, however, things that could have been done better. Sometimes the rhythm guitars sound like they're being played through a telephone, and a few tracks could have been left off.

"Heaven Don't Want Me (And Hell's Afraid I'll Take Over)" is listenable but doesn't live up to the standards set by the rest of the album.

The only thoroughly worthless track is "Billy Badass," apparently included just to keep with tradition: every Jackyl record has to have a chainsaw played as a musical instrument on one track.

It does have the hilarious Al Gore diss "I was the first to stand up against the PMRC," though, and it grows on you over time.

Overall, Relentless is a remarkable album, rescuing the band from a steady musical decline. The self-titled record is still the best of the catalog, but Relentless ranks a solid second.

Ehhhh,,,,, self titles was better!.......2004-03-18

I bought this because "AC/DC's Brian Johnson" co wrote "Kill The Sunshine" with the group! but with the lacking members and everythign else, this album failed to be as great as the previous ones! I recomend there self titles album over this one!

No Rock, No Roll, No Jackyl.............2003-08-06

One listen was enough for me ... 40% of the original band is missing. The songs have no melody; and without the twin lead guitar attack this is Jackyl in name only. Notice how many used one's there are for sale? 'Nuff said.

Take My Word For It: It Rocks!.......2003-07-20

I have read the pertinacious record critics reviews of this album and also have read some fan reviews echoing their sentiments. So, what did these fans want out of this album? An attempt at being contemporary and sounding completely out of place like some other albums by established bands? This album rocks! Take MY word for it!

While others may call this album Jackyl being their 80's self, which is a laugh because the band was formed in 1990 and only released their first album in 1992 so fundamentally they're wrong from the start, I call it a breath of fresh air in an otherwise drowning era of metal. The songs are proud to be rockers and proud to be energetic. You know, when it is obvious that the musicians are actually enjoying what they are playing as much as the fans are listening to it? Rarely found in today's "look at your feet and feel sorry for yourself" music but Jackyl is loud and proud baby!

Kill the Sunshine is a solid rocker with assisted lyrics from AC/DC front man Brian Johnson. Speaking of AC/DC, did anybody else stop dead in their tracks when Mr. Evil came on? If Bon Scott was ever reincarnated, he came back to sing Mr. Evil for Jackyl! I also love the attitude in I'm On Fire and The More You Hate It (It Makes Me Want It More.) But, I admit that there are a few things that I am not completely thrilled by. "Billy Badass" is a far too modern sounding tune that pushes the button of rap metal a touch too hard. I don't listen to nor respect rap metal and if that is what this album was about, I wouldn't have purchased it. I also could have used a touch more chainsaw! But, one sour grape out of a dozen does not ruin an album. It still rocks!

Tracks:

John Hardy
Horn Island
I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes
Easy Money
Payday
This World Is A Trouble And A Trial
Ghost In The Pines
The Coo Coo Bird
Love Never Dies
Some Dark Holler
Rico
Georgie
Wild Bill Jones
The Devil's Partiality
Rollin' And Tumblin'
The Last Shot Got Him

Album Description

Martin Simpson returns with his first US release in 6 years - a stunning collection of tunes and songs he culled over the years he spent living and traveling in the American South. Bearing the common themes of love, murder and/or religion, the music inspired a title based on a comment he once heard in Nashville, "Righteousness and humidity - that's a dangerous combination!" Recorded in New Orleans and England with RICK KEMP of STEELEYE SPAN and REGGIE SCANLON & DAVE MALONE of the RADIATORS!

Customer Reviews:

Fretboard wizard.......2004-12-27

One of today's finest slide guitarists and interpreters of traditional music, Martin Simpson continues to grow, inspire, and delight with his razor-sharp picking and grainy voice. On this album -- the most sonically diverse of his career -- Simpson swings effortlessly from the crisp, modal twang of his native British Isles to the haunting cry of Delta blues and low-key swagger of New Orleans funk. His timbral palette is huge: In addition to acoustic and electric guitars, he plays 5-string banjo, ukulele, lap steel, and percussion. Sometimes flying solo, but most often backed by various American and British players (including bassist Rick Kemp of Steeleye Span, and guitarist Dave Malone and bassist Reggie Scanlan of the Big Easy's legendary Radiators), Simpson delivers chimey ragtime counterpoint, rippling close-interval melodies, and snarling slide riffs with robust tone and flawless intonation. Whether he's putting a fresh twist on classics like "Rollin' and Tumblin'" and "John Hardy" or digging into vibey originals, Simpson never flaunts his monster chops. Instead, he seduces with mysterious 6-string textures and poignant tales of lost love and drunken murder. Bewitching sounds from a 21st-century troubadour.

Hold on there... I LIKE the vocals!.......2004-12-06

(In response to the review below) This is a GREAT album. The guitar playing (acoustic, electric, slide) is just amazing. The song selection is really fine. And to my tastes, I think these make Martin's voice sound good and appropriate. (I find his vocals on his earlier LIVE weaker, and always prefered his all instrumental COOL AND UNUSUAL and LEAVES OF LIFE). Maybe I'm just getting used to his unique voice, but these tunes are worth enduring practically anything for, and I like his vocals now anyways! (Also check out his similarly fine THE BRAMBLE BRIAR.)

annoying vocals.......2004-03-11

simpson cannot sing. his vocals are horrible and not in a good way (like kottke). this is one annoying album.

Righteousness and Humidity.......2003-10-31

This is another fantastic release from one of the world's finest acoustic guitar players. This album is inspired by the traditional music of the American South. It has soulful, introspective intrumental tracks as well as some serious groove based ones. The opening track, John Hardy, is a great example of the influence New Orleans had on Martin's music. Overall, this is a great record and a wonderful compliment to the Bramble Briar, Martin's prior release.

Average customer rating:

A wonderful and worthy endeavor

Humidity: Three Concerts
Robert Rich
Manufacturer: Hypnos Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

World Dance | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

Electronic | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music

World Dance | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Inner Landscapes
Somnium
World's Edge
Artifacts
Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces (part 1)

ASIN: B00004XR1A
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Tracks:

Lost Caverns of Caryatis
Bioelectric Plasma
Demilitarized Zone
Synergistic Perceptions
Ceramic Tincture
Submission to Pele
Humidity Towards the Troposhere

Tracks:

Beyond, Pt. 1
Beyond, Pt. 2
Beyond, Pt. 3
Beyond, Pt. 4
Beyond, Pt. 5
Beyond, Pt. 6

Tracks:

Steel Harmonics
Nada
Cloud Relapse
Nightsky Reprise
Hidden Refuge
In a Miasma of Malarial Delusions

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful and worthy endeavor.......2002-05-07

Though I've owned this triple CD for years now, I still
listen to it all the time! Mr. Rich has been with us,
producing ambient-accoustic-electronic music for a long
time now. I have about a dozen of his 20+ recordings, and it is
the more organic, nocturnal and spacey musics that I feel
express his true genius and flare for the genre. If you are familiar with an early mentor of his, Steve Roach, I suggest almost any of Robert's work, for we have in him an example of a former 'student' who has not only equaled his 'teacher', but a musician who has formed a unique musical identity and given us fans of electronica an enduring legacy, one which proves itself with every listening. If you like Jeff Greinke, Brian Eno, Robin Story etc., you can put Robert Rich up there with the best of them. Highest recommendation!
Matt

Voices of Change: American Contemporary Chamber Music

Average customer rating:

Voices of Change: American Contemporary Chamber Music

Manufacturer: Crystal Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000003J6K
Release Date: 1993-12-29

Tracks:

Evening Scenes: In Memory Of My Father
Evening Scenes: The Storm
Evening Scenes: A Lullaby
Meditation
Chronies: Toccata
Chronies: Intermezzo
Chronies: Scherzo
Chronies: The Humidity Rag
Melange: Solo
Melange: Duet
Melange: Quartet
Melange: Sextet
Sonatina D'Estate: Largo Religioso E Tranquillo
Sonatina D'Estate: Allegretto Deciso Ma Sempre Giocoso
Sonatina D'Estate: Solfeggietto
The Scrolls

Average customer rating:

Chick Is Not A girl...
The last reviewer is confused
Strong voice, powerful lyrics

Moontime

Manufacturer: Rn
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000AOWK
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Customer Reviews:

Chick Is Not A girl..........2004-04-01

The previous reviewer got it right - Chick Graining is male...

I think that I prefer Laughing Down The Limehouse to this album but also that's a little bit like saying that I prefer Champagne and Lobster to Filet Mignon and Bordeaux.

My biggest regret so far in this life was working late one night (in London, England) instead of taking a friend's advice (Hey Chas!) and going to see Anastasia Screamed.

If you have Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, or even Deep Purple Made In Japan in your record/cd collection then you'll like this music.

I don't have any idea how you would dance to it though...

The last reviewer is confused.......2004-01-25

This is a great album, but the previous reviewer's reference to a female leads me to believe he has this confused with a release by pop singer Anastasia...or something.

Chick Graning's intense vocals would never be mistaken for a female, and the dark, guitar-driven music of the album would have little appeal to anyone looking for pop music.

Highlight here is inclusion of backing vocals by Tanya Donelly, which, delicate as they are, blend nicely with Chick's.

Long out of print and hard to find but well worth the search.

Strong voice, powerful lyrics.......2000-08-08

Her voice is amazing and powerful, and the lyrics are empowering. She doesn't have the typical "angry chick" type of music, but it is strong and is just as noticable. It's fun to dance to the beat and is always exciting.

Average customer rating:

Vocals not the Biggest problem!
Which One's Willie?
Hum Drum
wet willie NOT !!
If Grits Ain't Groceries, This Ain't Great Music

High Humidity
The Wet Willie Band
Manufacturer: Fuel 2000
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

Southern Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Epic Willie (The Epic Recordings)
Left Coast Live
Rendezvous with the Blues
Build Your Own Fire
Keep on Smilin'/Dixie Rock

ASIN: B00062144S
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Tracks:

Mind Over Matter
She Caught The Katy
Street Corner Serenade
Easy Street
Everything That 'Cha Do
Babyfat
Countryside Of Life
Leona
When Something Is Wrong
Grits Ain't Groceries
Keep On Smiling
Shout Bamalama

Customer Reviews:

Vocals not the Biggest problem!.......2006-01-23

I've been a Wet Willie fan since I saw them in Memphis back in the late 70's. I've just listened to the clips of this CD and while I grant that the vocals fall far short of Jimmy Hall's, they are not the biggest problem by a long shot. The guitar tone is so thin and trebly it sounds like he's plugged into a transistor radio with a blown 2 inch speaker and turned it up full blast! This may be the worst sounding live electric guitar tone I've ever heard and I've heard a lot. What the heck's going on here. Are the sound engineer's eardrums busted from years of mixing rock n roll?

Which One's Willie?.......2005-07-22

Probably the hardest thing a band can go through is replacing the lead vocalist. Only a few groups have had some success with this - Van Halen, Chicago and Bad Company. And usually there are the die-hards that remain faithful to the original line-up and dismiss the band. In this case, the lead singer is not Jimmy Hall - and Jimmy had a very distinct vocal style and sound - he's probably one of the best Southern style vocalists around. The vocalist here has a very New Orleans (or cajun) sound - and while he's not Jimmy - he doesn't pretend to be him either. He does a very capable job with the material. The recording quality/mixing is very good and the audience is not over-bearing. Most important, it's great to hear the band get out and perform once again. I would have given the album 5 stars but 3 key songs (in my eyes) are missing - "Weekend", "Make You Feel Love Again" and "Rainman" (by Michael Duke). The last two songs from the fantastic "Manorisms" album. With the current release of Wet Willie's Epic Record albums on a single disc - that's probably the better route to go. But I must say that this is a very good release and would definitely hunt it down, especially on the used market!

Hum Drum.......2005-03-23

The lead singer's voice is not as full as Jimmy's voice, they play the songs a little faster than normal. Jimmy's southern drawl just makes the music sound better, when he sings. I have seen the original band in concert with a horn section and the willettes as the backing vocals' and the concert was done right after they did their last record album. For me being a hard core fan of Wet Willie and if you are a hard core fan of Wet Willie.I DO NOT recommend this CD highly.It's not worth it.

wet willie NOT !!.......2005-03-22

Sorry, but if it ain't got Jimmy Hall, it ain't Wet Willie!!!

If Grits Ain't Groceries, This Ain't Great Music.......2004-12-26

I loved Wet Willie as a kid and I love them just as much today. What an awesome album to groove to! Honestly, I was having a "grouchy" day when I first got this CD, but within minutes after putting it in the CD player I was smiling and dancing to the music. Highly recommend!

Average customer rating:

Heights Of Abraham Humidity

Manufacturer: Pork Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0001KREDU

Product Description

Original PORK release.

Average customer rating:

YES!
Telepathic interplay from Wilson's finest group.
Junkmedia... Review - Telepathic interplay
It's not the heat- this is very COOL humidity

Humidity
Matt Wilson
Manufacturer: Palmetto Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Smile
Wake Up! (To What's Happening)
Going Once, Going Twice
Arts and Crafts
As Wave Follows Wave

ASIN: B00008J2S8
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Tracks:

Thank You Billy Higgins!
Swimming In The Trees
Cooperation
Free Willy
Wall Shadows
Raga
Code Yellow
Humidity
Don't Blame Me
Our Delight
All My Children
Beginning Of A Memory

Amazon.com

Drummer Matt Wilson has a chameleon's talent for changing styles--moving from mainstream jazz to the experimental edges of the New York downtown school--and for bringing inspired energy to whatever setting he appears in. His piano-less quartet may be his most personal vehicle, however, a tight-knit working band with Andrew D'Angelo and Jeff Lederer on saxophones and clarinets, and Yosuke Inoue on acoustic and electric basses. The special energy and interplay are apparent from the opener "Thank You Billy Higgins," a vibrant, bouncing, joyous--even laughing--homage to the late drummer that also invokes Higgins's early employer, Ornette Coleman. Higgins and Coleman are frequent touchstones for Wilson and D'Angelo, as on "All My Children," but deeper roots show in Lederer's rough-hewn tenor balladry on "Don't Blame Me," and in the up-tempo version of Tadd Dameron's "Our Delight." On "Swimming in the Trees" and the title track, the band expands to a septet for two of Wilson's most developed compositional outings, where the music combines elements from tuned bells and funk rhythms to Middle Eastern modes and free-jazz wailing. Wilson's band plays with spirit and vision, and clearly has a good time doing it. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

YES!.......2006-07-31

Wild, joyful, and free, this quartet, which is augmented at times by three other musicians, plays avant-garde jazz that grooves. "Swimming in the Trees" is reminiscent of Sun Ra's early albums Sun Song and Sound of Joy from 1957, and the subdued sounds on "Cooperation" and "Wall Shadows" are reminiscent of Dave Holland's album Conference of the Birds from 1972. "Humidity" takes the cake with a clichéd 1980s beat that morphs into funk before the music explodes. Unfortunately, the band slips into Oriental tokenism on "Raga" and the syrupy sweet on "Beginning of a Memory." Overall, though, this is the kind of music that makes me exclaim "YES!"

Telepathic interplay from Wilson's finest group........2004-08-19

To call the music of drummer Matt Wilson's quartet "free-jazz" would be careless. While there are spirited moments of impassioned playing by the soloists, categorizing the group's excursions as unstructured free-jazz would be a misnomer. The quartet's tunes are often chart-driven with tricky horn accompaniment and non-traditional solo orders that defy staid jazz traditions.

Wilson's latest outing begins with the appropriately titled "Thank You Billy Higgins". The tune is irresistibly bouncy free-bop in the vein of Ornette Coleman's classic early '60s Atlantic sides. This is, of course, no coincidence, since Billy Higgins was Coleman's main drummer at that time.

Coleman's spirit presides over a majority of the tunes on Humidity, but not in a debilitating way. Wilson has a crisp, clean post-bop drumming style that recalls Higgins, albeit with a modern sensibility that includes everything from world music flourishes to straight up rock and funk. While his writing style owes a good bit to Coleman's influence, there are plenty of pieces that are uniquely his own.

Take for example "Free Willy," one of the albums' standout tracks. The tune touts a heady mix of rhythm changes taken at a breakneck tempo, switching seamlessly from a sprightly bop theme -- complete with dueling saxophones -- to a quiet middle section featuring a slow-burn bass solo. The number progresses through a series of trading fours between the drummer and saxophonists and makes a return to the head melody. It's the sort of tune that would make Charles Mingus proud.

In addition to the up-tempo material, there are some quieter tunes of a more chamberesque nature. There are guest spots by a pair of brass players and even Wilson's wife on violin on three tracks. The variety of these pieces helps to flesh the album out and keep the sound of the quartet fresh. "Raga", complete with modally driven horn lines soaring over hand percussion and bowed bass sounds exactly like you would imagine it sounds.

Halfway through the album, the title track breaks open with a drum machine riff that quickly gets overshadowed by the ensemble's gradual entrance, until funk drumming kicks in. Wilson's previous albums have dabbled in this sort of territory before with less successful results, usually bordering on trivial stabs at rock or lame funk. But here he seems to have nailed it. It works in all the right ways.

This quartet has been together as a touring ensemble for over five years now, and their musical empathy shows real signs of growth. Humidity finds Matt Wilson and his cohorts at their finest. In an age where jazz musicians often lack the financial ability to maintain a steady touring unit, this quartet sets a fine example of the sort of telepathic interplay that can be achieved by endless nights of playing side by side on the road. Studio jam sessions come and go, but groups like this are a rarer beast indeed.

(This review was originally written for the online webzine: junkmedia.org, and was published there March 25th 2003)

Junkmedia... Review - Telepathic interplay.......2003-03-25

Wilson's latest outing begins with the appropriately titled "Thank You Billy Higgins". The tune is irresistibly bouncy free-bop in the vein of Ornette Coleman's classic early '60s Atlantic sides. This is, of course, no coincidence, since Billy Higgins was Coleman's main drummer at that time.

Coleman's spirit presides over a majority of the tunes on Humidity, but not in a debilitating way. Wilson has a crisp, clean post-bop drumming style that recalls Higgins, albeit with a modern sensibility that includes everything from world music flourishes to straight up rock and funk. While his writing style owes a good bit to Coleman's influence, there are plenty of pieces that are uniquely his own.

Take for example "Free Willy," one of the albums' standout tracks. The tune touts a heady mix of rhythm changes taken at a breakneck tempo, switching seamlessly from a sprightly bop theme -- complete with dueling saxophones -- to a quiet middle section featuring a slow-burn bass solo. The number progresses through a series of trading fours between the drummer and saxophonists and makes a return to the head melody. It's the sort of tune that would make Charles Mingus proud.

In addition to the up-tempo material, there are some quieter tunes of a more chamberesque nature. There are guest spots by a pair of brass players and even Wilson's wife on violin on three tracks. The variety of these pieces helps to flesh the album out and keep the sound of the quartet fresh. "Raga", complete with modally driven horn lines soaring over hand percussion and bowed bass sounds exactly like you would imagine it sounds.

Halfway through the album, the title track breaks open with a drum machine riff that quickly gets overshadowed by the ensemble's gradual entrance, until funk drumming kicks in. Wilson's previous albums have dabbled in this sort of territory before with less successful results, usually bordering on trivial stabs at rock or lame funk. But here he seems to have nailed it. It works in all the right ways.

This quartet has been together as a touring ensemble for over five years now, and their musical empathy shows real signs of growth. Humidity finds Matt Wilson and his cohorts at their finest. In an age where jazz musicians often lack the financial ability to maintain a steady touring unit, this quartet sets a fine example of the sort of telepathic interplay that can be achieved by endless nights of playing side by side on the road. Studio jam sessions come and go, but groups like this are a rarer beast indeed.

Troy Collins
...

It's not the heat- this is very COOL humidity.......2003-03-22

Matt Wilson dismisses the piano and instead joins the efforts of Andrew D'Angelo on alto and bass clarinet; Jeff Lederer on tenor & soprano saxes and clarinet; and Yosuke Inoue on acoustic and electric bass along with Matt in the percussion kitchen. There are twelve songs here that roam the world from a fun Middle-Eastern "raga" to a cool tribute to percussionist Billy Higgins.

The jazz compositions, most of which are Wilson's, employ small modules of sound like mosaic tiles, and combine these to form the jazz compositions. But, here's my only criticism; when using minimal information such as small repeating units, a composition sometimes does not reach its full meaning until these are repeated with small variations for a certain amount of time. I felt a few of these (Swimming in the Trees) were too short and I wanted more.

But wanting more is not all bad. I enjoyed this album despite the fact that I thought some of these songs would have benefitted from a longer development.

Unsafe Trigger (At the White Trash Discotheque)
Average customer rating:
Unsafe Trigger (At the White Trash Discotheque)

Manufacturer: HuMidity Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0007ZRS44

Product Description

Jim Rickets, Chris Tucker, and Chris Zimmer -Invisible Cowboy / Unsafe Trigger(At The White Trash Discotheque) Track Title 1. Bird Dog 2. Electric Tonight 3. House On The Hill 4. Jericho 5. Spoke To The Sky 6. Lowve 7. Swamp Gas 8. Heaven & Hell 9. Whiskey Train 10. One Rouge 11. Song In The Air 12. Lo Lucas

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music