Friday, February 17, 2006

Children of Miles electric

Alan Parsons Project and Bugge Wesseltoft, classical piano licks with synthesizers, a voice as instrument more chant than scat, an electric bass and strings with a hip-hop drum beat, Monkian pianism, screaming (kind of) electric guitars, "Tubular Bells," a bit of the Jimi Hendrix, bluesy piano and churchy organ, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Nina Simone, whistling, disco reggae, rocky soul, Joe Satriani, heck, even some moments of fairly recognizable jazz.

Things I heard, among other things, on Burnt Sugar's "Blood on the Leaf, Opus No. 1," one of the CDs Philip Freeman suggests as an extension of Miles Davis' electric music in his excellent book "Running the Voodoo Down." The group, which includes Vijay Iyer, self produces and you can find its disks through its Web site. I'd take the trip if I were you because "Blood on the Leaf" gets more interesting every time I listen to it. Exciting stuff.

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