UK version with one bonus track, 'Outer Blue' (Remix by Splattercell) and $12 cheaper. It features the thundering rhythm section of King Crimson fame, Bill Bruford and Tony Levin. Recorded live in Japan and the USA in 1998... more ». They expand on their studio album with extended live versions and new compositions. 15 tracks in all.« less
UK version with one bonus track, 'Outer Blue' (Remix by Splattercell) and $12 cheaper. It features the thundering rhythm section of King Crimson fame, Bill Bruford and Tony Levin. Recorded live in Japan and the USA in 1998. They expand on their studio album with extended live versions and new compositions. 15 tracks in all.
CD Reviews
A New Standard for Fusion
T. Brown | Fayetteville, NC United States | 09/26/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"On this record, these guys find new ways to expand the consciousness of the listener. The combination of the poly-metric blending of time signitures between the bass/stick and drums, the weird and sometimes eerie Tornian soundscapes, and the lonely Miles inspired trumpet takes fusion somewhere I've never heard it go. While the studio record they did was interesting, this record is visceral and alive and at times totally breathtaking. I want to be in this band."
Live of B.L.U.E
Park Chan Ung | Seoul South Korea | 06/21/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"So to speak, it's a double live version of B.L.U.E. Including some other & a bonus track, of course. As for me, I'm fond of studio version more rather than this live one. But it's great that some tracks from studio are extended for live play. & some tracks are improvs or jams. Higly recommended for guys & girls who like each or at least one of Bill Bruford,Tony Levin and David Torn. These three good performers gathered once before at Torn's excellent work "Cloud about mercury". Though I haven't experienced any other Chris Botti, he is good especially at "Original Sin". By the way, Torn doesn't play impressively in this project to me."
Fantástico
J. B. Fresno | Madrid, Spain | 09/23/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Fantástico. No se puede decir otra cosa de este CD. Este disco es lo mejor que he oído en el campo del Jazz eléctrico desde el Pangea de Miles Davis (allá por 1975). Es dificil destacar a alguno de los cuatro miembros del grupo, pero la combinación del sonido típico del King Crimson instrumental de finales de los 90 con la trompeta cool de Botti es genial. Desde luego, por mucho que digan, éste último no es Davis (hasta ahí podríamos llegar), pero su papel tampoco es el de liderar este grupo, por lo que su aportación es más que correcta."
King Crimson Projekts meets Miles Davis
kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 11/05/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a 2 CD set taken from live club shows in 1998. The sound is very good and there is very little audience noise. It sounds like the audiences were very small, like the concerts were done in half filled clubs. The first disc is 48 minutes and the second disc is 58 minutes with the addition of a bonus track from the original release. The packaging is fairly cheap looking.
This is jazz fusion. Some of it is discordant, especially the opening track. Mostly the music is lively, entertaining but very rough and hard. It is along the lines of what King Crimson was doing at the time, only more accessible. With Chris Botti playing on trumpet, much of the music sounds like a harder version of Miles Davis.
This band came together right after King Crimson was in it's "Projecks" and "Thrak" stages. Both Bill Bruford and Tony Levin were in King Crimson at the time. King Crimson was a sextet at the time and doing all kinds of experimentation with different combinations of the members of the band. They put out a number of CD's where any "C" in the title was replaced with a "K". The music was hard and metallic. Much of it was pure noise with members of the group just going off in any direction. Some of it was very interesting.
I think that Bruford and Levin take all that experimentation with King Crimson and evolve it into something much better. David Torn on guitar sounds like Robert Fripp under control. And the trumpet really adds a new dimension to the music.
Levin is always a very interesting artist. Another album to check out is his Double Espresso, which is more traditional fusion and new wave jazz. I think his best album (besides the 1980's King Crimson material) is Levin, Bozzio, Stevens Blacklight Syndrome. That is a CD to search out and cherish."
Never imagined I wouldn't like a Bruford CD
WillieB | 03/24/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"As a big fan of Bruford (Earthworks, Crimson, Yes, UK, Bruford) and Levin (Crimson, Gabriel, Lennon, Liquid Tension Experiment, Bozzio Levin Stevens) I figured that a live double disc with this awesome rhythm section would be stellar... how wrong I was. This music is nothing like the ensembles mentioned above; it is very weird avant-garde improvisational jazz. Not that there is anything wrong with that... if you like Mingus, Dolphy, and Coleman there may be quite a bit to enjoy, and maybe I just can't appreciate this style of music.
I have listened to this at least twenty times; therefore, this is not my initial reaction to this disc... for me there is nothing enjoyable on this CD. I would recommend any of Bruford's work mentioned above, but pass on this unless you're a fan of this type of music.
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1