XAVI REIJA — The Sound Of The Earth (review)

XAVI REIJA — The Sound Of The Earth album cover Album · 2018 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
js
Lately there has been a sort of cult for free improvisation fusion bands developing within the MoonJune label, particularly among some of their more King Crimson offshoot oriented bands. The Crimson connection makes sense as it was the Fripp and Bruford version of the band that really began experimenting with the idea of a free form jazz rock jam, no chord progression, no pre-determined soloist, and no plan at all. The Hendrix Experience, Cream, The Allman Brothers and others had already made some noise in that direction, but it was Fripp and crew that set the bar for the ‘free rock’ jam. On “The Sound of the Earth”, drummer Xavi Rieja has put together a crew that is well suited for a jam like this with the versatile Dusan Jevtovic on guitar, King Crimson veteran Tony Levin on bass and Crimson ProjeKCt leader Markus Reuter on touch guitar. It helps that all four of these guys have worked with each other before in similar type bands, and the communication that comes from experience shows as they take on the tricky endeavor of making music without much of a blueprint.

Some of the best music on this CD goes down on the first three tracks, plus the first part of track four. Track 2, “The Sound of the Earth I” sounds like David Gilmour at his early 70s best, and “From Darkness” sounds like a beehive of interlocking math guitar riffs. On “The Sound of the Earth II”, the band displays the risks inherent in a free jam when Xavi changes the beat half way through and catches the band off guard and not sure what to do with the sudden change in beat. From here the guys continue through varying tracks that often deal with floating ambience and slow paced space rock. Track 7, “Lovely Place” is a bit of a surprise as the band goes into a chord progression borrowed from “Hotel California”, which Reuter uses as a backdrop for a soaring guitar solo.

What happens on “The Sound of the Earth” is pretty much what you could expect when a talented bunch of guys get together for a free form jam session, there are plenty of exhilarating moments of discovery, as well some time spent searching for the next hot idea, its bound to happen. If a modern heavy improv with a King Crimson flavor to it is your idea of a good time, you will not be disappointed in this one.
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