Magnetic

Steven Wilson really is a workaholic. Apart from being the singer, guitar player and main songwriter for Porcupine Tree, he has several solo projects and collaborations with others going on. And he's also involved in producing and remixing the work of others. He never takes the easy road. Back in 1989 it wasn't an obvious choice to start a prog rock-psychedelic band, but he did and he managed to make a success out of it. Now it would be easy for him to harvest the success of Porcupine Tree, but instead he puts his energy in less successful side projects.
Bass Communion is his main solo project. It's the oldest one with the most releases, apart from I.E.M. that have been terminated and No-Man, which isn't really a solo project but a collaboration with Tim Bowness…

Magnetic marks Terence Blanchard's return to Blue Note Records after an eight-year sojourn in which he wrote and performed large scale works for film, and cut smaller group offerings for Concord. He utilizes his fine live band in the studio here – tenor saxophonist Brice Winston, drummer Kendrick Scott, dazzling pianist Fabian Almazan, and 21-year-old bassist Joshua Crumbly. Bassist Ron Carter guests on a pair of tracks, as does saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, while guitarist Lionel Loueke plays on three. Blanchard composed four tracks here, and the members of his quintet all contributed selections – Almazan even has an unaccompanied solo piece on the record.