New Albums - Page 135

Progressive rockers Spock’s Beard are back with the band’s twelfth studio album, The Oblivion Particle. “I think the opening track ‘Tides of Time’ is classic Spock’s in terms of arrangement and style, but everything else is fairly different,” said bassist Dave Meros. “That said, the whole album is still within the parameters of what people expect to hear from us.”...

Fourplay founding member Lee Ritenour’s guitar work is all over popular music — he’s played more than 3,000 sessions, with everyone from Pink Floyd to Dizzy Gillespie, earned a Grammy for his 1986 collaboration with Dave Grusin, and netted 17 more Grammy nominations besides. The jazz player’s latest album, A Twist of Rit, sees him join with an all-star band...

Famed bassist Gary Willis, well known for his work with the band Tribal Tech, has released his fifth solo record, Larger Than Life. The fusion-funk record pairs Willis with drummer Gergo Borlai, Tribal Tech band mate Scott Kinsey (keyboards), Steve Tavaglione (saxes and EWI), Claudia Bardagí (voice) and Llibert Fortuny (tenor sax and voice). Willis, Borlai and Kinsey form the...

Session bass ace Vail Johnson has returned with The Seventh Son, a thirteen-song album that brings together several genres to create a style the bassist calls “JazzAmericana.” Johnson, whose has worked with artists from Herbie Hancock to Whitney Houston, fuses country, blues, R&B, folk, and jazz for an eclectic yet cohesive sound. “This mix of originals and covers of timeless...

Welsh metal band Bullet For My Valentine has released its fifth studio album, Venom. Frontman Matt Tuck handled bass on the record, which is the group’s first following the departure of longtime bassist Jason “Jay” James. The album deliberately shies away from any melodic or pop sounds, Tuck said. “We wanted to keep this as dark as possible. It was...

Soulfly has released its last album with bassist Tony Campos (former Static-X), who left the band to join Fear Factory. Archangel, the metal band’s 10th album, is the band’s most mystical one since its 2004 record, Prophecy, says Max Cavalera (ex-Sepultura), the band’s founder, guitarist and vocalist. He says the record reflects diverse influences, from Biblical themes to death metal....

Chicago bassist Pennal Johnson (PJ) combines jazz, funk, adult contemporary and rock and roll on his album, Cissy Strut. The bassist for The Chicago All-City Jazz Band from 1984-87, Johnson began playing bass at age 8. During his career, he has performed with artists like Andre and Sandra Crouch, Kurt Carr and Abraham Laboriel. Johnson is also working as part...

If you love the sound of the early days of The Replacements and feel like a vinyl record is the only way to hear the legendarily unruly rock group, a new four-album set has your name written on it: The Twin/Tone Years. The set includes the band’s first four records: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981), the...

Experimental/avant-garde bassist, producer, and composer Bill Laswell has released back-to-back albums as part of his M.O.D. Technologies’ Incunabula Digital Series. One album, On Brion Gysin, features the spoken word work of the late poet, photographer and filmmaker Ira Cohen, incorporated into Laswell’s music, in tribute to the work of the late artist and writer Gysin, who pioneered the cut-up writing...

Nearly two years after their first release, bassist MonoNeon and producer Kriswontwo have teamed up again as Weon to release Neon the Won. The experimental duo fuse stellar bass playing with ear bending soundscapes to create an album that transcends genre. This time around they invited several guest musicians, including David “Fuze” Fiuczynski, Jerome Flood, Lance Lucas, Amber Baker, and...

The late, great jazz bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba have long been known for the work they did together. Although Haden died in July 2014, there’s still music to be hear from the pair via the album Tokyo Adagio, which captures the best of their 2005 performances at Blue Note Tokyo. The sound is classic. Just listen to...

Terri Lyne Carrington’s 2011 The Mosaic Project was an album with an all-female superstar lineup of musicians. Her latest, The Mosaic Project: Love and Soul, is another all-female affair. This time out, the Grammy-winning jazz drummer and composer (she’s known for her work with a slew of artists, including bassist Esperanza Spalding) the roster includes some impressive bassists: Meshell Ndegeocello,...