Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Tunnels: Painted Rock

123

Tunnels: Painted Rock

By

View read count
Tunnels: Painted Rock
Painted Rock is the latest offering from the powerhouse fusion/jazz/prog band, “Tunnels” featuring midi vibraphonist Marc Wagnon, legendary fretless bass master Percy Jones, multi-talented guitarist Van Manakas and the superhuman-like drummer, Frank Katz. Here, the band serve up as to what may be viewed upon as a logical extension of their powerful freshman and recently reissued release, Tunnels with Percy Jones (see Jan’00 AAJ reviews).

The band commence the proceedings like a well-oiled machine on the title track, “Painted Rock” which is a straight up hard rocker and features a slightly ominous underlying theme. Here, vibraphonist Wagnon disperses bright colors via his thunderous lines and counterbalancing rhythmic work which sets the stage for Manakas’ fleet-fingered lead soloing as this piece is all about barn-burning rock alongside dazzling jazzy motifs. On the “Land of the Hazmats”, Manakas and Wagnon aim towards the stratosphere amid a few wittily conceived time signatures as the band seemingly prod the listener into snapping his or her fingers to the solid rhythms yet catch you off guard with spurts of modern jazz type improvisation. On occasion the band, or presumably either Manakas and/or Wagnon inject unearthly sounding synth backwashes or redevelop a concept through keen improvisation and an overall cunning thematic approach which is apparent throughout.

It’s not all about pyrotechnics as it just emanates rather naturally on such pieces as “House of Marc” where bassist nonpareil Percy Jones pursues inventive passages and performs as if the bass were an appendage of his physical being or Frank Katz’ massive polyrhythmic attack on “Neuro-Transmitter”. On this piece, the band proceed as a hybrid Prog-Metal band with leanings toward Frank Zappa and mainstream jazz via rapid unison lines, ferocious hard-edged guitar leads by Manakas coupled with a blazing swing/free jazz interlude. The musicians are in top improvisational form on the lengthy piece titled, “Bad American Dream 2001” complete with midi-synth effects, traces of jazz, avant-garde motifs supported by Jones’ pumping bass lines and Katz’ throttling drum work. We must add that “Tunnels” are not a band who convey overbearing or self-absorbing complexities. Many of these pieces are assembled around shapely or organized tempi and meter as they provide ample room for soloing opportunities yet not in a restrictive or austere sense. The band’s inviting diversities shine on the acoustic/electric piece “Boyz In The Ud” which features a migration of Western - Middle Eastern - North Indian motifs. Marc Wagnon performs an exhilarating solo on the no nonsense balls to the walls thriller, titled “Lilly’s Dolphin” as Frank Katz unleashes his power drumming fury on the adrenaline induced drum solo and closer, “Unity Gain”. At this juncture it is time for all parties to take a deep breath and unwind from this roller coaster ride of a journey as we regain our senses and take a stab at reality for a second or two. Painted Rock is an express train with no stops along the way as the music is pure, untainted and gets you to your destination in rapid fashion, yet the key ingredient here is the sustained and altogether gratifying entertainment value, featuring loads of impact! - (One of the top releases of the year) * * * * *

Personnel

Marc Wagnon; Vibes: Percy Jones; Fretless Bass: Van Manakas; Guitar: Frank Katz; Drums

Visit the BuckyBall Records website: www.buckyballmusic.com and check out Allen Huotari

Album information

Title: Painted Rock | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Bucky Ball Music

Tags

Comments

About Tunnels

Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar

PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.