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| Gary Willis - Bent (1998) |
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| AMG Review by John Patterson (4): Gary Willis presents nine jazzy and funkified pieces all his own and two he co-wrote with bandmates. The personnel here are Tribal Tech's bassist Willis, Scott Kinsey on keys, and Kirk Covington drumming on two tracks. Dennis Chambers provides sweet drums on eight tracks. Reeds are Steve Tavaglione wailing on EWI, tenor, and soprano sax and clarinet. Bob Berg also guests playing one mean tenor sax on three tracks. Imagine Tribal Tech with no Scott Henderson pyrotechnics but Willis stretching out more so on the bass with great reed work heating things up-and you have Bent. He's an amazing bassist as well as composer extraordinaire. This is a laidback release in many places without any helter skelter race to follow lightning axe chops. Willis can, and does, groove phat-fast or slip into the smooth and even echoes that Manring quirkiness when he feels the urge. Willis intros with an amazingly complex bass piece to open "Emancipation" where steel drum keys and harmonica EWI hail back to an upbeat Weather Report porch swing daze that fades away into . . . ahhh. ---------------------------------------------------------- Yo, Kenny-G-force-feedin' NAC S.O.B.s! Tribal Tech bassist Gary Willis has a message for y'all: Get Bent. Figuratively or literally, it's unlikely they'll heed the advice. The sad truth is, the soulless automatons of corporate jazz radio were vaccinated long ago against Willis' brand of Tesh-eating bacteria. But that's not stopping him from doing his thing. Signed to Alchemy Records, one of a handful of labels where fiery, funky-ass fusion still has a home, Willis continues to flourish in an environment of artistic freedom. Bent, his second solo disc of burning jazz-rockery featuring extended improvised passages and raging solos, transplants the vibe of classic Weather Report and Head Hunters into the late 90s with some modern sonic surgery. The roster of doctors who assisted is impressive: stickologists Dennis Chambers and Kirk Covington, sax therapists Steve Tavaglione and Bob Berg, and synthiatric specialist Scott Kinsey were all onboard to ensure the genre survived and thrived with renewed vigor. -Anil Prasad,Innerviews Magazine, http://www.innerviews.org Just when you thought the electric bass was quietly sinking into a nostalgic role in jazz, here comes Gary Willis to remind you of its power. It may be that Willis is too unassuming a character to get the credit he deserves, as perhaps the mose exciting electric bassist around. His solos can be technically stunning but also engaging on an emotional level. and he has always shown a keen flair for composition, whether complex charts or fetching variations on basic forms. For years, Willis was the right-hand partner in fusion crimes with Scott Henderson, in and out of thier group Tribal Tech. Willis' new recording, Bent (Alchemy), is a guitarless outing with ever-resourceful keyboardist Scott Kinsey and saxists Bob berg and Steve Tavaglione. The drum chair is kept mighty and creatively active, between the formidable Dennis Chambers and one track with Kirk Covington, heard most recently as a driving force in the Zawinul Syndicate. Fittingly, the ghost of Weather Report -that supergroup of the fusion era- slithers through the material, with grooves that are simultaneously pulsing and eccentric, as on "Do the Math." The bent blues of "Bowlegged" has an onomatopoeic loopiness of rhythmic feel, and here Kinsey pulls out some of his archival-to-the-future synth textures. On the beautifully weird and funkified title cut, abstract undulations finally yield to a quirky head section, then back into space. On the next cut, Willis' supple single-line playing on fretless is featured on the head to "It's Only Music," an exotic, medium-swing tune with Tavaglione taking a sampled-harmonica solo reminiscent of Toots thielemans, all of which adds up to a nod to Jaco Pastorious' pallette. We get a similar echo in the closing tune, "Emancipation," a nice coda to the album. And why not? Clearly, Willis takes his cues from Jaco's expressive identity, but has added his own range of distinctive ideas and nuances. He's taken the Jaco influence and run with it on a path of his own devising, long past the time when that sound had been commercially popular. -Josef Woodard, Jazziz Magazine When it comes to carrying on the tradition of cutting edge electric fusion music, no one bass player has made such a strong contribution over the past few years as Tribal Tech bassist Gary Willis. His compositions fit the mold of such classic bands as Weather Report, Brecker Bros., HEadhunters and Chick Corea's various projects. His command of elecitric bass playing is unmatched in todays market. His strngest assets are his versatile and advanced musical concept on the bass, his compostions, and his choice of musicians to bring them to life. On this release the players are stellar, with tTribal Tech band mates Scott Kinsey (keyboards) and Kirk Covington (drums on 2 tracks) along with Bob Berg (tenor sax) and Steve Tavaglione (sopprano, tenor sax, clarinet, EWI). The power and funk behind most of the tracks fall in the hands (and feet) of Dennis Chambers. Chambers and Willis provide the perfect combination of experienced and creative musical concepts that are a joy to behold. The track "Armageddon Blues" sums it all up with blazing speed, chops, musicality and a great sounding mix provided by TJ Helmerich at Musicians Insitute Studios. Willis pretty much sets the standard for electric fusion bass playing and compostion with a great tone and endless technique. He is not afraid to strech the boundaries in his music as evident on "Bent" where he allows the players to go 'way out.' The fretless work on "It's Only Music" is beautiful. The majority of bass playing throught the relase is fretless and simply awe inspiring. If any one bass player has followed in the foot steps of Jaco Pastorius in terms of technique, musicality and creativity, Willis would have to be the one true disciple in todays market. Bent is certainly the best effort by a bassist in electric jazz fusion in 1998. -Mike Haid, Fuse Magazine Not only is Garu Willis onbe of the baddest bassists pushing the jazz and funk envelopes, he hires the baddest cats to play on his records. Keyboardist and programming virtuoso Scott kinsey is all over this album, doing things with a Yamaha EX5 that you simply have to hear to believe. Kinsey doesn't just blow incredible solos or lay down perfect voicings; with the sounds he dials in, every note is a three dimensional adventure. Did I mention Dennis Chambers is playing drums? This disc will tear your head off. -Ernie Rideout, Keyboard Magazine Tribal Tech co-founder Gary Willis garnered widespread critical acclaim for his 1996 solo debut No Sweat , a release that I found easy to admire but hard to love. I've grown to love Bent, the second solo effort from the talented Texas bassist. Willis takes groove music to another level on this funky and intricate CD. Bent is a bit less dissonant and far more vigorous than its predecessor. Nine of these 11 tracks feature fat funky bottoms, hard-bopping tops, percolating polyrhythms, and inspired improvisations. From the quirky racing bop of "Armageddon Blues" to the industrial funk of "Bent" to the sinuous grooves of "Bowlegged," these tunes slip and slide, move and groove. Moreover, Willis coaxes some great performances out of saxophonist Steve Tavaglione, drummer Dennis Chambers and keyboardist Scott Kinsey. Kinsey's electric keyboard work is especially inventive, and there's a tangible chemistry between all of these players. Tenor saxman Bob Berg also appears on three cuts, while drummer Kirk Covington plays on two. At times the vibe reminds me of Miles Davis' Decoy, my favorite of the trumpet master's 1980s releases. Willis doesn't employ a trumpeter, but Tavaglione's EWI sounds like a muted bugle on the slithering "Hipmotize" and the smoldering "Cadillac," two tracks that are most reminiscent of the electric Miles. Tavaglione's turns his EWI into a harmonica on the surprisingly melodic "Its Only Music" and the tropical "Emancipation." Bent is contorted improvisational music that's high-tech but full of life, and Willis' bass work is extraordinary throughout. Gary Willis is a very clever composer who's taking electric jazz to new places. -The Popcorn Music Review |