 Saturday, 22 July 2006 at 4:36:00 AM PDT DigitalMetal.com review by Chris Ayers Thoroughly lauded by King Crimson maestro Robert Fripp, The Crimson Jazz Trio’s debut album is utterly breathtaking. Excepting the fabulous 21st Century Schizoid Band (comprised of former Crimson members playing only pre-Larks’ Tongues in Aspic tunes), The CJ3 are the only group that does justice to most eras of Crimson’s musical evolution. KC is once again on the metal radar, thanks to Between the Buried and Me’s spot-on cover of “Three of a Perfect Pair” from their new The Anatomy Of… album, but The CJ3 instead play simmering jazz renditions, expertly wrought from acoustic grand piano, fretless bass, and drums. Akin to the Alex Skolnick Trio’s 2002 album, Goodbye to Romance, which transformed ’70s and ’80s rock standards by The Who, Scorpions, et al. into John McLaughlin-esque jazz numbers, Volume One does the same for Crimson favorites, but with three intriguing twists: first, all guitar lines are replaced by piano; second, drummer Ian Wallace is a member of Crimson’s old guard, touring and performing on a single album, 1971’s Islands; and last, The CJ3 cover three eras of Crimson—1969-1984—and do not limit themselves like the Schizoid Band, who cover material only up to 1971. The sheer talent invested in converting album opener “21st Century Schizoid Man” into the coolest jazz is breathtaking: Wallace keeps a perfect pace with Jody Nardone’s piano and Tim Landers’ bass riffs throughout the tune’s multitudinous tempo changes and chord progressions. If there were justice in the music world, this reading would make Ozzy Osbourne recall all copies of 2005’s Under Cover with his irreverent and appalling take on this early Crim classic. “Catfood” undergoes the same metamorphosis, this time with a dog’s plaintive yelps interspersed for humor. The manic polyrhythms of “Three of a Perfect Pair,” the ‘newest’ song chronologically, are smoothed out but still retain their potency. Instead of a more-or-less straight take on “Ladies of the Road,” the only selection from his Crim legacy, Islands, Wallace challenges himself by creating an even nimbler swing tune that goes beyond all expectations. “I Talk to the Wind” and “Matte Kudasai” receive similar, gentle treatments, but “Red” amazingly preserves its muscular, John Wetton-era bass tone and lumbering cadence. The true highlight is “Starless,” an impeccable slant that underlines Landers’ fretless bass prowess (which is reminiscent of well-known session bassist Rob Wasserman). The ideal soundtrack for a progger’s wine-tasting party, Volume One has a remarkably sublime beauty that will sink deep into the hearts of all Crimson fans—who will hopefully not have to wait too long for the release of Volume Two. © 2001 - 2005 DigitalMetal.com. All rights reserved. Click here to visit DigitalMetal.com Back to previous page |