Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dan Weiss: Starebaby

5

Dan Weiss: Starebaby

By

View read count
Dan Weiss: Starebaby
It is always interesting when a musician's newest release zigzags away from previous works, making an abrupt change of course. Often it happens at the request of a producer or record company, and probably because his/her previous disc was not well received. This in no way explains Starebaby by drummer Dan Weiss. Sixteen: Drummers Suite (Pi Recordings, 2016) and Fourteen (Pi Recordings, 2014), both larger ensemble recordings, composed and arranged by the drummer were critical successes. He could easily have continued down the same path.

Not a chance. He assembled a cast of superstars; keyboardists Craig Taborn and Matt Mitchell, guitarist Ben Monder, and bassist Trevor Dunn to create a jazz-meets-doom metal power lunch at the corner of electro and acoustic street. A piece like "The Memory of My Memory" hits as hard as anything by the band Blind Idiot God, where massive hulking bass line and thunderous drums follow a dream sequence of echoey synth notes and a guarded piano. The music was inspired by David Lynch's TV show Twin Peaks and "Badalamenti" is dedicated to Angelo Badalamenti who wrote the soundtrack for that show. Eerie doesn't begin to describe the music. Painted at night, the music is propelled by Weiss' varied pulse. He draws from his background in Indian drumming and his association with the sludge metal band Bloody Panda to propel this session.

Please don't get the wrong impression. This recording is as thoroughly composed and orchestrated as his large ensemble recordings. Weiss brings that same musicianship to this heavy metal plus outing. Where a metal band might be a one trick pony, Weiss has the talents of Mitchell and Taborn to create elaborate piano and synthesizer confections. Both work in pulse and dissonant effects, as does Monder, whose guitar work ranges from chamber music to chainsaw shredding. With Trevor Dunn on bass, Weiss has circled back to the days of Fantômas and Secret Chiefs 3, but with a mutated DNA that allows for stronger melodies and more compelling instrumental interactions.

Track Listing

A Puncher's Chance; Depredation; Annica; Badalamenti; Cry Box; The Memory of My Memory; Veiled; Episode 8.

Personnel

Dan Weiss
drums

Craig Taborn: piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers; Matt Mitchell: piano, Prophet-6, modular synthesizers; Ben Monder: guitars; Trevor Dunn: electric bass; Dan Weiss: drums.

Album information

Title: Starebaby | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Pi Recordings

Tags

Comments


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

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

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.