Archive for the jazz rock Category

INCITARE – THE DEBUT ALBUM FROM VOLTO! – SET FOR RELEASE JULY 23, 2013 ON FANTASY/CONCORD MUSIC GROUP

Posted in jazz, jazz fusion, jazz rock, Music, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , , , on May 31, 2013 by Metal Odyssey

Volto! - Incitare - promo cover pic - 2013

Radical Fusion Band Features Danny Carey (Tool), John Ziegler (Pigmy Love Circus) and Lance Morrison (Alanis Morrissette, Don Henley)

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For Free Download of “Grip It” visit www.Voltoband.com

From the very get-go Volto! was an oddity.  Here is a band comprised of some of the most accomplished musicians in Los Angeles (including the drummer of GRAMMY Award winning, multi-platinum selling band, Tool) who were down right excited about playing cover tunes in a tiny jazz club in the Valley.  This at a time when dyed-in-the-wool rockers were paying Hollywood club owners to play their originals in hope of inking a record deal and being catapulted to fame.

Then there were the fusion numbers – staggeringly complex arrangements by Weather Report, Jeff Beck, and Tony Williams that, more so than the hard rock favorites, gave carte blanche for spirited improvisation. And if you have a drummer of the notoriety of Tool’s Danny Carey, fans with purple Sharpies in their pockets (hoping to get an autograph) might just get a drum solo or two delivered with calm intensity and lightning fast accuracy by the native Kansan wearing a Jayhawks’ basketball jersey.

Volto! also features one hell of a bass guitarist and the pride of Corpus Christi named Lance Morrison (session and tour bassist for Don Henley). During each show, the quiet, steady fixture wearing a golf cap would get a chance to ‘show off’ his technical expertise with a solo or two dedicated (sarcastically) to all the ladies in the club.

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Applauding these solos as much as anyone in the packed room was Pigmy Love Circus guitarist John “Volto” Ziegler (another Texas transplant) who would once again take the reins, cueing his band mates to intros, outros, imminent changes or take blistering leads, dexterous arpeggios with delicate effects-laden phrasing.

When it came time for last call and the band played their final cover tune, the party would continue either at Tool’s rehearsal loft or at Danny’s Hollywood manse. Over Shiner Bocks, vodka and tequila, eventually the conversation would turn to Volto! writing and performing original music. Hell, maybe even doing a record.

Rather than book time in one of the countless studios in L.A., it was decided that they would track the songs ‘live’ – onto tape! – utilizing the recording equipment at the loft’s modest studio. When he had a small window of time between projects, veteran recording engineer “Evil” Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Religion) was summoned to sit at Danny’s API 2448 console. To get the performance and overdubs onto tape, they dusted off an old Studer A827 gold 24-track machine. It might have taken nearly a decade to get to this point, but once the ball was rolling (and custom Neve faders set), things proceeded at a rather quick pace. Much to everyone’s delight, songs with names like “Grillz”, “BHP”, and “Grip It” were even given a boost in intensity by keyboard wizard, Jeff Babko (Kimmel House band, Butch Walker, Larry Carlton.)

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Once the recording and mixing process was completed, Incitare was delivered to Gateway Mastering and left to the very capable ears of Bob Ludwig. For the art work, Danny had the idea to use a piece in his collection by the famous underground psychedelic artist Rick Griffin.  Originally, this was to be used as cover art for a Steppenwolf record, but for whatever reasons didn’t happen.  With the other members equally enthusiastic by the piece, together with art contributions by Tool guitarist Adam Jones, the packaging was complete.  With management in place and a record deal with Concord struck, a release date was set – July 23rd, 2013.

In the meantime, you can get the Volto! experience when they next perform live.  And while you shouldn’t expect to hear a 20-minute rendition of “Whipping Post”, and can’t say with absolute certainty what keyboardist will be sitting in to augment the music, but the sheer precision with which Volto! plays will leave you stunned. 

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Track Listing For Incitare

1) Grip It

2) Grillz

3) Whopner

4) Drumbeaux

5) Quirk

6) BHP

7) Meltdown

8) Tocino

9) I’m Calm Now

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For more info on VOLTO!, click on the links below!

http://www.VOLTOband.com

http://www.concordmusicgroup.com

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(Source: MAD Ink PR)

MetalOdyssey

LONG LIVE VOLTO!

Stone.

Bass Player Antoine Fafard To Release Second Album ‘Occultus Tramitis’ Featuring Former Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra, King Crimson Members!

Posted in instrumental rock, jazz fusion, jazz rock, Music, rock albums, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , , , on May 10, 2013 by Metal Odyssey

Antoine Fafard Occultus Tramitis - promo - (cover)

Featuring! Terry Bozzio (Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa), Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Gavin Harrison (King Crimson, Porcupine Tree), Scott Henderson (Tribal Tech), Simon Phillips (Jeff Beck, Toto), Chad Wackerman (Allan Holdsworth, Frank Zappa) and Dave Weckl (Chick Corea, Mike Stern)

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London, UK – Much to the excitent of music aficionados across the globe, the second solo album by composer and bass player Antoine Fafard, ‘Occultus Tramitis’, will be released digitally on May 15 and on CD June 1, 2013. Featuring the contributions of a number of jazz-rock legends including Terry Bozzio (Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa), Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Gavin Harrison (King Crimson, Porcupine Tree), Scott Henderson (Tribal Tech), Simon Phillips (Jeff Beck, Toto), Chad Wackerman (Allan Holdsworth, Frank Zappa) and Dave Weckl (Chick Corea, Mike Stern), ‘Occultus Tramitis’ encompasses 11 tracks presenting almost an hour of exciting new music.

“Working on Antoines project was a real treat…his compositions and playing made it a unique experience. Both challenging and joyful at the same time! He put together a great team of players and I only wish we could have been playing in the same room!” – Jerry Goodman

Says Antoine, “I started to work on this CD in September 2011, right after the release of the ‘Solus Operandi’ album, and was still working on it in April 2013. I began to compose music with specific players in mind, hoping that they would eventually agree to participate. I guess that the players themselves were a great source of inspiration during the composition process. Interestingly, I wasn’t present during the recording sessions of any of the collaborators on this CD (all 15 of them). Each player on this album recorded their tracks in their home studios and all the songs were mixed in my home studio.”

Antoine Fafard Occultus Tramitis - promo - (cover)

Drum legend Terry Bozzio comments on the track he performs on: “This is a really challenging piece. It was very subtle – it’s in eleven and it’s very sneaky… It is deceptively simple because it has an open, very flowing feel to the piece.”

Antoine Fafard’s recording career began with his band Spaced Out, who released their first album in 2000. By 2008 Spaced Out had recorded five studio albums, one live album and two DVDs, and had performed on international stages including Nearfest, USA in 2002 and Crescendo, France in 2006.

In 2010, Antoine decided to begin recording under his own name, without the limitations of the band format. His first solo album, ‘Solus Operandi’, released in August 2011, features more than an hour of original instrumental music by Antoine, working with a total of 13 collaborators, including world-class performers such as Dave Weckl (Chick Corea, Mike Stern), guitarist Jerry De Villiers Jr and drummer Magella Cormier. ‘Solus Operandi’ was composed on electric fretless bass and classical guitar, after Antoine re-acquainted himself with the guitar following many years focusing on the bass.

Which brings us to 2013 and the release of Antoine’s highly anticipated new solo album, ‘Occultus Tramitis’. The music on ‘Occultus Tramitis’ differs between the tracks, and the fusion of influences that characterizes Antoine’s music means it doesn’t fall easily into a single style or genre. However, the album was composed as a complete work. Melodic aspects are beautifully realized by Jerry Goodman, who is featured on more than half of the tracks among odd time signatures, multiple modulations and rhythmical illusions. There are exceptional performances from all Antoine’s collaborators, including spectacular solos.

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“Antoine is a fantastic musician. It was a real joy to play on this CD.” – Chad Wackerman

‘Occultus Tramitis’ is an independent release presenting exciting and powerful new music for any fan of instrumental jazz-rock, progressive and fusion music.

Antoine Fafard’s ‘Occultus Tramitis’ can be puchased on Amazon.com, itunes and most online music stores.

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To listen to audio excerpts and pre-order a signed copy of the CD, go to www.antoinefafard.com

To Pre-order ‘Occultus Tramitis’ CD via Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Occultus-Tramitis-Antoine-Fafard/dp/B00CMDPTEA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367604370&sr=8-1&keywords=occultus+tramitis

Digital release: May 15, 2013

CD release: June 1, 2013

Antoine’s website: www.antoinefafard.com

unicorn_digital - logo

Unicorn Digital’s website: www.unicorndigital.com

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(Source: Glass Onyon PR)

MetalOdyssey

LONG LIVE ANTOINE FAFARD.

Stone.