Tales is the fifth album by Canadian guitarist Jason Sadites, who has been playing his guitar from the age of ten. Since his debut album Orbit in 2005, his way of playing has become more sophisticated and gained the attention of other musicians. So, since his second album Weve, Jason could count on contributions from highly acclaimed musicians like Gregg and Matt Bissonette, Chad Wackerman and Tony Levin, as well as drummer Marco Minnemann. The cooperation with the latter led to participating in Minnemann's project Normalizer 2, a set of albums where each guitarist would add their own view and interpretation to pre-recorded drum parts by Minnemann. For the 2014 album Tales, Jason chose to return to the basic form of a power trio, that would be performing all the music on the album. An easy choice was who would take their place behind the drum kit; the aforementioned Marco Minnemann. He became this album's rhythm machine, while the bass parts would be performed by Ric Fierabracci; another highly acclaimed musician, who earned his wings alongside jazz and fusion musicians like Chick Corea, Billy Cobham and Planet X. Just to name a few. Musically, Jason Sadites perfectly blends complicated structures, which remind of King Crimson's Robert Fripp, with just a drop of blues and a topping of jazz. Like when you listen to Puffery, basic elements of King Crimson are noticeable, though in a way, they can't been seen as copying, for Jason definitely gives the compositions a twist of his own. During a further composition, Weasel Words, the aforementioned influences are mixed with hints of Frank Zappa. Absolutely brilliant is the longest song on the album, Demagogue. Here the jazz has moved forward and both Ric Fierabracci and Marco Minnemann excel on their instruments, resulting in a mix of heavy fusion and intelligent progressive rock. Although my personal flavour usually goes to the more powerful compositions on the album like Demagogue. Another song that definitely needs your attention is Repercussion, which is kept quite basic and sounds as if Jason uses a basic rhythm- and guitar loop, on top of which he plays the acoustic guitar. Please don't shoot me if I'm wrong, but that is the way it sounds to me, and I have no additional info about the way each song is recorded. Jason Sadites's guitar playing can be seen as a form that continues where Robert Fripp stops; using certain elements of King Crimson's music, but always adding that something personal, and so creates his own style. Tales is highly recommended for KC fans, including the Crimson ProjeKCt. Guitar fanatics definitely will find their way to this album. **** Pedro Bekkers (edited by Esther Ladiges) Where to buy? |
