Jazz Articles

Gongzilla: Five Even

by John Kelman
October 17, 2008

Sometimes you've got to change to survive. Gongzilla--the offshoot of the late Pierre Moerlen's Gong that was an offshoot of the original Franglo group Gong--last released Live (Lolo) in 2001. Even more fusion-centric than Moerlen's Gong, that disc featured GZ co-founders Bon Lozaga (guitar), Hansford Rowe (bass) and Benoit Moerlen (vibes, xylophone) in the company of American power players Vic Stevens (drums) and David Fiuczynski (guitar). While there's no shortage of fusion chops on Five Even, GZ--sans Moerlen ...

Gongzilla: East Village Sessions

by Walter Kolosky
November 24, 2003

I remember very clearly checking out the band Gongzilla’s progenitor, Gong, many years ago during the heyday of the fusion movement. The artsy European album covers and sophisticated surnames listed on the jackets offered much promise. However, that band never quite cleared the hurdles, and so through its various and sundry incarnations over the years, I have ignored its output. But if East Village Sessions gives any indication as to what I may have been missing over the last two ...

Gongzilla: Live

by Scott Andrews
September 1, 2002

Americans Bon Lozaga (guitar) and Hansford Rowe (bass) and Frenchman Benoit Moerlen (vibes, xylophone) formed the nucleus of the fusion band Gongzilla in the mid 1990s, and recorded the studio CDs Suffer and Thrive with guest guitarists Allan Holdsworth and David Torn. The 2001 Gongzilla release Live was recorded direct to 2-track at a festival in Quebec City, Canada, on June 27, 1998, with drummer Vic Stevens, who played on the Gongzilla debut CD Suffer. In the Gongzilla tradition of ...

Geno White: Standing in Stereo

by Michael Askounes
October 1, 2000

Who is Geno White, you ask? Well, that’s what I asked as well when I received his 1996 instrumental guitar showcase Standing in Stereo for review. However, after a few listenings, I was surprised that EVERYONE doesn’t know who this fellow is – White is an A-list guitarist with a sound very reminiscent of Lifeson and Hendrix, and at the same time manages to avoid the all to popular pitfall of noodling for noodling’s sake. Standing in Stereo is not ...

Gongzilla: Suffer

by John W. Patterson
July 1, 2000

Yeah I now, this release is a bit on the older side of things but great fusion is ageless and a joyful listen no matter when it is discovered. The group Gong has mutated itself gladly through an endless morph of musicians. From deep in the way-back machine’s files we find You with Steve Hillage on axe to its days with fusion legend Allan Holdsworth on Expresso and with Bon Lozaga riffing it up on Time is the Key the ...

Common Ground: "not enough space"

by Ed Kopp
July 1, 1998

1/2

Two listens and I became hooked on Common Ground, a clever fusion duo consisting of saxophonist Chris Farr from Philadelphia and guitarist Erik Sayles of Connecticut. This is the pair's second release, and it also features monster drummer Dennis Chambers, talented bassist James Genus, keyboardist Dan Zank, and percussionist Brian Farr.

Chris Farr and Erik Sayles weren't aiming for snooze-jazz radio with this one, because “not enough space" combines the guitar-driven intensity of Tribal Tech with the improvisational melodicism ...