FUN FUSION FROM MOONJUNE…Gary Husband: Postards From The Past, Dwiki Dharmawan: Anagnorisis, Anton Roolaart: The Ballad Of General Jupiter
One of the few labels that keeps the fusion full lit, MoonJune Records has released a handful of albums that plug in as well as dig in…
Best known for his work with John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension, drummer Gary Husband digs deep into his archives to show his other musical dimensions. Collecting material that he’s recorded through the years, he’s caugt play ing keyboards, samples, guitar and oh, yes, DRUMS on this wide ranging double discer. He’s folkish on his own playing nylon strings, samples and piano on a lovely “City Nights 2013, while being a one man band with various keyboardws and syntsh on a rollicking “City Nights 1993”. A trio with Steve tgopping /g and Paul Carmichael/b get spacey and adventurous on “Fallow Landand “Not Even The Rain” while prog rock icon Allan Holdsworth shows up with, of all people, vocalist Paul Williams (!) on a hip “Water On The Brain”. Kaleidoscopic capers.
Exciting escapades are created by leader Dwiki Dharmawan/p-key along with Gilad Atzmon/cll-sax, Kimon Karoutzos/b, Harris Lambrakis/fl, Vironas Ntolas/eg and Nikos Sidirokastritis/dr. The moods range from dark colorws created by Atzmon’s bass clarinet on “Ya Kita Bisa” and gloomy flowing forms supported by Lambrakis’ fluet on “Gambang Ney” to rich ambiences delvered by Atzmon’s soprano sax and Ntolas’ guitar during the title piece. Dharmawan directs traffic with clarity, giving urgency to “Pacu Javi” and rich textures to “Toledo Train”. Adventurous adventures.
Anton Roolaart plays (deep breath) guitars, bass, mandolin, piano, keyboards, drum programming, synths and sound effects while singing with Rave Resar/p-key, Bob Kirby//dr-perc, Wouter Schueler/fl-sax and Sean Carolan/voc on an album that gives hints of 70s bands Yes and Styx. Roolart’s voice is a rich tenor, taking you on a journey on the Journey-ish title track, while creating catchy lines on “The Cry Of Seven Doves” . There’s some hard hitting rock on “Rain” and dramatic readings of forwarnings of the future on “And The Sky Turned Yellow” with the leader playing the part of a 21st Century troubadour. Tales from the Crypt?
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