BRINGING IT DOWN TO THE BASS

I am not sure what there is left to say about Tony Levin, except that he is one of the most highly regarded bass and stick players in the world, which is why he managed to get the following involved with his first solo album since 2007: Robert Fripp, Vinnie Colaiuta, Earl Slick, Mike Portnoy, Steve Gadd, Jerry Marotta, Gary Husband, L. Shankar, Pete Levin, Jeremy Stacey, David Torn, Pat Mastelotto, Larry Fast, Steve Hunter, Manu Katche, Alex Foster, Dominic Miller, Markus Reuter, Chris Pasin, Collin Gatwood, Josh Shpak, and Don Mikkelsen. The vast number of guests only play on one track, although his brother Pete plays on a few more while Jerry Marotta and Gary Husband are also involved more than the rest. The booklet is wonderful, a collection of photos and text as Tony talks about his friends, the instruments, what has happened to them and what tracks he uses them for on this.

Tony also provides vocals on the tracks which have them, and this is where his sense of humour really shines through on songs such as "Side B / Turn It Over" which is primarily multi-tracked vocals and a tiny section of bass which is not what one would necessarily expect. Having heard numerous albums involving Tony in recent years where he has been allowed to provide full voice to his talents, what I found most interesting on this one is that he has reined himself in somewhat so it is not as experimental as one might expect, although there are certainly elements of that, and he has consciously released something which is far removed from Stick Men for example. The bass is normally a foundation instrument providing support for others, but here Tony has brought it out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

He may be approaching eighty years of age, but Tony has lost none of the dexterity and style which has seen him play on excess of 500 albums with some of the most challenging artists around. It may not be as improvised as some of those, or as layered as others, but the result is something which shows the many different possibilities of the instrument as he shifts through different styles and approach and that is what this album is all about.

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