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| P2 At Albany Again |
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| :: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Feb 20, 2012 |
My thanks to J Eric Smith for sending in this marvelous review of P2 playing Albany. You can hear the gig that Eric is writing about here.
Eric writes "I was a music critic (for better or worse) in Albany, New York for many years. My wife and I recently relocated to Des Moines, Iowa, and as part of launching a web presence in my new home community, I have been reviewing old archives of my work for items that might lend themselves to new purposes. I found a ProjeKCt Two live review (copied below) while digging through old floppy discs and files, and thought I would share it here, since I have not seen many other formal newsprint reviews from that era posted here. It was a lovely show, one that I still cite as one of my all-time favorite live performances.
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ProjeKct Two
Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany, New York, May 8, 1998
Copyright 1998, J. Eric Smith (Originally appeared in Metroland, The Alternative Newsweekly of Northeastern New York)
"OK, now we’ve played everything we don’t know,so we can play something that we actually do know," announced electronic drummer Adrian Belew at the end of ProjeKct Two’s second all-instrumental, all-improvised set. Belew, 10-string Warr guitarist Trey Gunn and electric six-string guitarist Robert Fripp then encored with King Crimson’s "Vrooom," an angular number originally created by Fripp, Belew, Gunn and their Crimson bandmates Tony Levin, Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto.
As nice as it was to hear "Vrooom," the true value of the encore was to place the evening’s improvisational extravaganza in context by providing a single sample of how ProjeKct Two sounded when tackling a fully developed and structured instrumental piece. Frankly speaking, the encore paled in comparison to the 90 minutes of music preceding it, as its rehearsed complexities and nuances were nowhere near as impressive as the knotty, towering sound collages that ProjeKct Two created on the fly as the rapt audience watched and listened.
Fripp, Belew and Gunn were watching and listening to each other as well, and much of the thrill of this concert came from witnessing the interactions between these deeply talented musicians who have played together long enough to anticipate each other’s thoughts, sometimes before they eve realize that they’ve had them. Belew or Fripp typically opened each number with a drum or guitar pattern that the other musicians would would investigate, mount and ride, sometimes to loud and uplifting summits, sometimes to quiet, scary grottoes, sometimes back to the point at which they started. It was actually harrowing to experience in many cases, as the trio careened just on this side of control as they rode, the looks on their faces indicating that it was just as thrilling (and frightening) for them as it was their audience.
As important as technical prowess was to the concert’s success, mention must also be made of ProjeKct Two’s technological proficiancy. Belew was playing the latest generation of Roland virtual drums, allowing him to create a seemingly infinite number of sonic assaults as he clattered and rattled along with a look-Ma-I’ve-got drums grin on his face. (Understandable, given that he’s normally a guitarist.) Gunn matched Belew’s rhythmic and textural intensity as he tapped, stroked and and beat the touchboard of his Warr guitar.
Fripp spun out any number of his trademark spine-tingling sustained guitar lines but also used the treatment technology he has developed over the years via his Soundscape and Frippertronic performance experiments to create a wealth of tones and intonations. At times, the bands’ sounds were so far skewed from what your eyes were reporting to your brain that it was almost psychologically easier to look at the floor and imagine that Fripp was playing cluster chords on some beaten-up jazz-hall piano while Gunn blew on a baritone sax and Belew kept time by tapping on whisky bottles and ashtrays. Crazy, man, crazy.
All told, ProjeKct Two’s concert was a magnificent one, and I must confess to feeling great relief in being able to report that. Why? Because Robert Fripp’s written and recorded works have done more to shape both how I listen to and how I think about music than have any other artist’s over the last two decades, although I never actually stood in the same space with Fripp until last Friday. So imagine the potential for debilitating disappointment at this show, and then imagine the transcendent relief and joy when it didn’t come to pass. It literally moved me to tears. And how often can a wordless concert do that?"
More news
Displaying 4131 items (Viewing 441 to 450 of 4131)
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Fripp's A Genius
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Mar 29, 2012
That's the verdict of jazz singer Kurt Elling in this piece kindly sent in by Antonion.
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It Was 40 Years Ago Today
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Mar 27, 2012
That Mel, Boz, Ian & Robert played in Boston supporting Yes with Bill Bruford still on drums. It was at this gig that Bill seized his opportunity to ask Fripp about meeting up and discussing some ideas once they were back in the UK.
Two months after this gig was recorded, in May 1972 Fripp and Bruford kept the meeting they'd promised each other to see what, if anything, might happen.
You can grab the concert via the mail order store.
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And The Winner Is...
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Mar 26, 2012
Congratulations to Rick Mascarini of Milford Ohio. His name was picked out of The fickle fedora of fate and he wins a signed copy of Pat's Recidivate CD. You'll recall we asked folks to name that track from the album that included Robert's tale of the psychedelic trousers - it was (all together now) Brutal Ecstasy (with fuzzbox). Many thanks to everyone who took part. Keep your eyes peeled for another great giveaway later this week.
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Grinderman Reviewed
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Mar 23, 2012
Robert Fripp is mentioned in dispatches during this review of the Grinderman RMX album.
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McDonald's Lovin' It
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Mar 23, 2012
Here's an interesting piece about what happened when an American first pressing of In The Court Of The Crimson King showed up at a record fare recently.
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Belew Talks About Crimson's Future
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Mar 22, 2012
My thanks to the several good folk who pointed me in the direction of this interview with Adrian Belew.
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Under The Influence Part 942
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Mar 22, 2012
Let's hear it for Cursive. Band member Tim Kasher says "I thought King Crimson was so weird and now, I think
they're phenomenal. I think now we're definitely leaning to at one part
of that tradition."
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