Animation: Asiento (2011)

Mark Corroto

Senior Contributor since 1999

Mark misses his large dog Louie, but endeavors daily to find and listen to new and interesting sounds.

Recent articles (1,009 total)

Published: March 13, 2011

1969 was perhaps a watershed year for jazz in America. Trumpeter Miles Davis Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet , the anointed pied piper, recorded Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970). It was to be the beginning of jazz/rock fusion. Maybe better described as jazz/rock/soul/funk fusion. Miles wasn't one to miss out on trends. He saw the popularity of Jimi Hendrix Jimi Hendrix
1942 - 1970
guitar, electric and Sly Stone, with their rocked-out blues/soul sound, and he decided to get in on the action.

Fast-forward to the conservative purge of the 1980s, when the history books were rewritten with nary a mention of that electric Miles thing. Luckily, soon to be movers- and-shakers like saxophonist/producer Bob Belden Bob Belden
b.1956
arranger and trumpeter Tim Hagans Tim Hagans
b.1954
trumpet were still listening. Belden later produced the reissue of Bitches Brew, expanding the two discs to four and introducing 15 additional songs from those sessions and the raw materials for the original release. p>Together Belden and Hagans have mined this era before, on the trumpeter's two out-of-print electric releases, Animation/Imagination (Blue Note, 1999) and Re-Animation Live! (Blue Note, 2000), with keyboardist-heard-here, Scott Kinsey Scott Kinsey

keyboard .

Asiento, recorded for the BBC, was from a live concert at New York's Merkin Hall as part of a series called Reissue: Classic Recordings Live. Completing the lineup are bassist Matthew Garrison Matthew Garrison
b.1970
bass, electric , drummer Guy Licata, and DJ Logic (turntables).

The bands wasn't so much reenacting Bitches Brew, as they were revitalizing it with modern tools. Teo Machero's tape splicing and the combination of keyboardists Joe Zawinul Joe Zawinul
1932 - 2007
keyboard , Larry Young Larry Young
1940 - 1978
organ, Hammond B3 , and Chick Corea Chick Corea
b.1941
piano could be left to just DJ Logic and Kinsey. Kinsey favors the music of Joe Zawinul Joe Zawinul
1932 - 2007
keyboard , flavoring his notes with the familiar Weather Report Weather Report

band/orchestra sound. Same for Garrison; on the opening "Pharaoh's Dance," he displays a fondness for Jaco Pastorius Jaco Pastorius
1951 - 1987
bass, electric ' heavy bass sounds.

Were Miles Davis here today, he certainly would be seasoning his brew with bits of hip-hop and drum 'n' bass, as heard here. Certainly the center of the recording is trumpeter Tim Hagans Tim Hagans
b.1954
trumpet , playing his trumpet amplified by reverb, wah-wah pedal, and appropriate feedback. His echoey take on "Bitches Brew" is spot on, recreating the haunting weight of Miles' quest to change the direction of jazz.

Track Listing: Pharaoh's Dance; Bitches' Brew; John McLaughlin; Miles Runs The Voodoo Down; Spanish Key; Sanctuary.

Personnel: Bob Belden: saxophones; Tim Hagans: trumpet; Scott Kinsey: keyboards, synthesizers; Matt Garrison: bass; DJ Logic: turntables; Guy Licata: drums.

Record Label: RareNoiseRecords
Style: Modern Jazz