Patrick Hearn

Terry Bozzio - Drawing The Circle (1998) {TB 5422}
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© 1998 Terry Bozzio | TB 5422
Jazz / Jazz Rock / Post Rock / Drums

Solo drumming is an art that few musicians can manage beyond the fringe of audience comprehension. Terry Bozzio first got his start as the drummer for Frank Zappa's backing band during the '70s, but would go on to become one of rock's most versatile session men, and form one of new wave's most visually exciting outfits, Missing Persons, along with then-wife Dale Bozzio. Born Terry John Bozzio on December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, CA, Bozzio began playing on makeshift drums at an early age, before taking formal lessons at the age of 13 (inspired by the Beatles' infamous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show).

Since John Hiatt and the major labels decided to go their separate ways around the turn of the century, his approach to record making has been direct and organic; most of his albums have sounded as if Hiatt and his sidemen put them together without a lot of fuss, placing the emphasis squarely on Hiatt's dependably strong material and tough, flinty vocal style. But 2011's Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns is a more polished and ambitious affair than Hiatt has delivered in years. The sessions were produced by Kevin Shirley, who has previously worked with Aerosmith, the Black Crowes, Dream Theater, and Journey, and though his approach isn't especially intrusive, the sound of this record is certainly more luxurious, with the guitars sounding bigger, the drums booming a bit louder, and strings and keyboards decorating several tracks and the arrangements, gaining a greater sense of drama along the way.

Here is a collection of familiar classical music adagios given new interpretations by Windham Hill artists. Although most of the tracks do have synthesizer harmonies and embellishments, there are some that do not. The Brahms Intermezzo contains its own intermezzo in the form of a jazz piano trio improvisation. Edgar Meyer on double bass and Mike Marshall on mandolin perform a nice, straightforward transcription of the Prelude in C sharp minor from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, with no synthesized embellishments.

Frank Zappa - Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa, A Memorial Tribute (1996) {ZFT UMRK 02}
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© 1996 Zappa Family Trust | UMRK 02
Rock / Experimental Rock / Avant-Garde / Art Rock / Jazz Rock

This 1996 CD compilation was the first one put out privately by the Zappa family following Frank Zappa's death in 1993 from prostate cancer. The music includes three new versions of familiar Zappa works, followed bytheir better-known counterparts that have previously appeared on both LPs and CDs. As Dweezil Zappa explains in his liner notes, this previously unreleased excerpt from "Black Napkins" is not yet fully formed; oddly enough, like the version that follows from Zoot Allures, the Napoleon Murphy Brock sax solo has been edited out. The new version of the next instrumental, "Zoot Allures," fares better in comparison to the well-known take from the Zoot Allures CD, in spite of some distortion inadvertently added by the Tokyo PA system during its recording.

Ancient and modern come together on "I Am Here," as veteran musician/composer Paul Ellis creates an electronic music portrait inspired by the mysterious rock carvings of the Chinook Tribe of Native Americans who lived in the Columbia River Gorge 15,000 years ago. Just as they left their mark etched in stone, so Paul Ellis paints in sound from a palette that includes synthesizers, sequencers, guitar, bass, and voice.
The three long form compositions on the album, two in the 20 minute range, and one almost 30 minutes in length, have a spellbinding quality that is constantly evolving, and draws favorable comparison to the electronic music artistry of Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra, Craig Padilla, Patrick O’Hearn, and Jean Michel Jarre…