Search - Jonas Hellborg, Buckethead, Michael Shrieve :: Octave of the Holy Innocents

Fuzak Evolution

TUCO H. | Los Angeles, CA | 12/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Depths Of Fuzak are continually getting deeper these days. While most other types of music are going backwards, fusion is really evolving & endlessly refining despite what detractors say (there is fusion music being made right now as good as anything in the 1970s but already way beyond it) and it is the freest musical format for combining compositional & improvisational experimentation currently available. Fusion players are now writing complicated Zappaesque compositions which require strong music-reading abilities to play and combining that with free-form superjams. This album with Hellborg and Buckethead is more of the latter. The compositions grow organically from amazing hyperactive-yet-laid-back telepathic free-form jams. The first two tracks are fine efforts, they are very energetic and driven but with no real pay-off and too much repetition of similar grooves. On the last 3 tracks, however, everything comes together and you have a transcendent bliss of combined ultra-virtuosity & a meditative minimalism with Buckethead going against type and doing most of the minamalism. This is really a Hellborg solo album with support by Shrieve and Buckethead since Hellborg is the busiest of the 3 players here.



Some of the best new Hellborg isn't even being carried by Amazon yet and has to be purchased from fusion-specific websites like abstraclogix and such. For example, the mind-blowing "Paul Hanson, Jonas Hellborg, Jeff Sipe" album. Hanson is a classically trained bassoon player with ungodly technique on his instrument & the ability to improvise like a maniac who must be heard to be believed! That whole album is a new classic which will be played for decades to come. Also "Art of the Jam" by Jeff Sipe featuring Hellborg, Hanson, Shane Therriot & a host of others is a great batch of tunes that jam hard and also has the best recording of Sipe's drum set yet on record. Aside from these directly related to Hellborg my online search and research at abstractlogix website has led me to the following great fuzak evolution albums which all fans of "Octave of Holy Innocents" should also check out :

Ben Monder "Oceana"

Fareed Haque Group "Cosmic Hug"

Colaiuta, Kotikoski, Kleautgens, Tavaglione "Cave Men"

Ahmad Mansour "Short Cuts" & "Nightflight"

Tony Grey "...moving"

Tigran Hamasyan Trio - "New Era"

BPM (Bozzio, Preinfalk, Machacek) - "delete & roll"









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Hellborg's Masterpeice

Derrick Wilson | Atlanta GA | 10/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just simply amazing. I love acoustic music, and this has that with some keyboards. Jonas Hellborg is one of my favorite bassist of all time. I got this album this year and was kind of reluctant after Shawn Lane passed. It stayed in my cd player for a few months. This is the first time I had an album with buckethead, and I am impressed. From beginning to end you will just love it. Awsome compositions, nice solos as well, Shrieve is good as well."

3 and 1/2 stars : Good stuff but in my opinion somewhat unfi

The Invisible Man | France | 09/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The playing of Buckethead is rather minimalist on this album, i wish he had played more on some of the tracks ; i like especially the dance-avant-garde sounds of 'Rana and fara' and the melancholic and ethereal 'Past is a different country, i don't live there anymore' ; the record is full of moorish ('Child King') and exotic sounds especially coming from North Africa and the eastern part of the world, which is a good thing because it allows these musicians to experiment with a wider range of sounds and music ; there is some hints of jazz too ('Death that sleeps in them'); in my opinion, some of the tracks lack of musicianship and seems to be too minimalist ('Kidogo'), in other places, the minimalist playing of Buckethead is rather effective like on 'Past is a different country'; maybe this is not a masterpiece and one or two of the tracks are just average without being bad but it is a solid effort and clever music."