Netherlands

Hot on the heels of Spaced Out’s excellent Slow Gin, Canadian label Unicorn Records now unleash another slab of superb Jazz Fusion. The keyword here being Jazz. This may well be a step too far for those approaching from a rock perspective.

The brainchild of Richard Addison, (bass player of label mates MYSTERY) he also composed, arranged and produced this disc. Aside from Richard, the core band consists of David Gauthier on various guitars, and Stephane Crytes on acoustic drums. This pair plays on most if not all the tracks. At various points on the disc, tenor and alto sax, violin, piano and electronic drums supplement the sound. There are a couple of additional guitarists also.

The title of the album is a perfect fit for the hugely varied melange of Jazz and Fusion styles on display. There is also a decidedly progressive slant to the rockier elements. Although also lead by a bass player, Addison Project differs from Spaced Out in two main ways. Firstly, whilst being an excellent player, Richard Addison does not dominate the proceedings in the way that Antoine Fafard does with Spaced Out. He is content to lay down his fiendishly complex runs beneath the various soloists, in the safe knowledge that repeated listens will reveal the true power of his craft. Secondly, there is no space music influence here, using instead a broad palate of more traditional Jazz styles as a jumping off point for some pretty wild explorations. Each track is a constantly surprising, but smoothly executed, torrent of ideas, juxtaposing style upon style in a heady brew.

Sleepwalking is a challenging opener, topping a solid, shuffling groove with a zigzagging spiky melody, sounding like the mallet-percussion heavy fusion favoured by Frank Zappa in his Wakka/Jawakka/Grand Wazoo period. Somehow, they manage to find room for a fluid piano solo, in an almost cocktail lounge style, and it all manages to hang together.

The Muffin has an incredibly convoluted opening riff, and features some terrific guitar in the prog fusion style of Alan Holdsworth or Terje Rypdal. Montee De Lait returns to the Zappa vibe, but with a synthetic brass feel, which perhaps is a little too brash in places. There is however, some pretty hot electric guitar soloing.

Mood Swings opens with a solo violin playing some familiar but slightly off kilter melodies. It develops into a gently swinging groove, with some cool piano playing alternating with the nonchalant violin. There is a lovely relaxed air about this tune, with just a hint of tension to spice things up.

Le Grand-bé rings the changes with some interesting acoustic guitar textures, a rocking electric solo and some dynamic percussion.

MCEUET breezes in with a parping saxophone riff, before adding some funky effects-laden electric guitar, and a cool alto sax solo.

After All (Demon’s Dance) has another devilishly tricky opening melody, with a brassy feel, played with stunning precision and driven forward by vibrant slap bass. This alternates with, by turns, a beautiful almost orchestral melody, and a keening guitar solo.

The highlight of 10h10 is the razor sharp violin playing of Robin Boulianne, recalling Jean Luc–Ponty or Jerry Goodman. Addison’s bass work here is also superb, underpinning the twisting, elongated melody lines to perfection. Throw in some wailing sax and incisive guitar, and you’ve got it all. This is a great track and one that packs an awful lot into just five minutes.

Controlled Freedom, despite its dissonant beginning, is a smoky late night duet for bass and the tenor sax of Dany Roy. Towards the end there is some tasteful piano and violin, interspersed with surprising sound effects and samples, adding a mysterious vibe and ending with a brief shrieking return of the opening dissonance.

All in all, this is an often exciting and compelling collection of tunes, played with a high level of proficiency and invention. The high Jazz quotient may mean this is one for the more experienced Fusion fans, rather than those first testing the waters, but its well worth checking out.

Dave Sissons for DPRP  (September 2003)

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