Put one of the world's best drummers with a super bassist together and things can go terribly wrong due to competing egos. Well, that's not the case here. Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Pineapple Thief) is a giant who can do more than his signature style in top prog bands. Here he plays jazz/rock in a way that is very special. Antoine Fafard plays bass and guitar and he does a great job. All compositions on Perpetual Mutations are written by Fafard. The gentlemen are assisted on various songs by, among others, Jean-Pierre Zanella on soprano saxophone, Rodrigo Escalona on oboe, cellists Joasia Cieslak and Isodora Filipovic and violinist Ally Storch. Dale Devoe contributes on trumpet and trombone. The combination with oboe on Objective Reality is especially great, but actually there isn't a single bad song on this album. Harrison is very good in this jazzy genre, the man is an all-rounder who does not make a show of it but does exactly what he is good at within the songs. Of course there are some typical Harrison fills, but nowhere dominant. Truly beautiful. All 9 songs are very well recorded, mixed and mastered. Fafard makes his bass growl nicely (listen to Quiessent II) and the cooperation between the gentlemen is extraordinary. This is simply a beautiful jazz/rock album with an emphasis on jazz. Nice! *** Arne van Os van den Abeelen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
