Review of Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian Microjam! by David Fiuczynski, RareNoiseRecords, 2016
David Fiucynski is a genius. I think that this would be enough to close here the review of his latest album, dated 2016, which, mea culpa, I’m going to review with chronic delays. Shall I add something else? OK, we can say that Professor “Fuse” is the Screaming Headless Torsos’ leader, thta he teaches at the Berkley College of Music in Boston, that he was reported by the magazine Guitar Player in the list of the top 100 guitarists who have changed the world and that most likely is the world number one regarding the fretless guitar. He is a cult guitar hero and I have been for several years devoted to his worship and I sincerly think that he’s one of the best around, probably the only one who was able to gather all the inheritance accumulated by people like Allan Holdsworth and John McLaughlin, to bring the electric guitar to a new evolutionary level.
With this new Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian Microjam! he brings even more forward his ideas on music composition, combining microtonal harmonies, jazzy grooves, Zappa’s polyrhythms and personal devotions to Messiaen. Inside this record we can find everything: songs of real exotic birds, modulations of microtonal keyboards, funky ideas, swing and deadly fretless guitars’ solos. Each of his songs expresses a ton of innovative and interesting ideas that can not fail to attract both the curious listener and the fetishist guitarist. This is a fantastic record, highly recommended, which cleverly combines complexity, intellectualism and immediacy, attracting both the attentions of the experienced listener and the most superficial one. Ten songs refined and manicured combining jazz, experimental and world music, valid and interesting. What else?
TRACKLIST
01. Loon-Y Tunes
02. Dance Of The Uirapuru
03. Flam
04. Q&A Solitaire
05. Oiseaux JDillique
06. Gagaku Chord Candy
07. Waldstimmen
08. Uira Happy Jam
09. Organ Wren
10. Loon-ly Solitaire
LINE-UP
David Fiuczynski
Helen Sherran-Davies
Yazhi Guo
Utar Artun
Jake Sherman
Justin Schornstein
Alex Bailey
Rudresh Mahanthappa
NeuGuitars 