LIVE AT THE BBC

Ok, so we all know by now that Rune Grammofon (label) has spawned some pretty great bands in the last decade or so (Food, Krokofant, Panzerpappa, Motorpsycho and Bushman's Revenge, just to name a few). All of these bands are talented, creative and very prog or fusion or symphonic oriented. So it is no surprise that Elephant9 continues the label's trend. At this concert the 1st thing you will notice is the excellent sound for a live event. Those engineers at the BBC know their business. The music is like having an early Emerson or Dave Stewart suddenly being invited to form a trio with Cobham and Laird or Tony Williams and Tony Newton (circa New Tony Williams' Lifetime). In fact, this reminds a bit of William's first ever fusion group, Emergency, minus McLaughlin. Of course, this has a more up to date energy and it is jaw dropping just how tight and fast some passages are in this music, especially this being live. The compositions are great vehicles for these musicians to really dig in, without ever loosing site of the various cells within the long pieces. Although it is all very raucous, there is never a sense of them getting out of control or getting into free cacophony. If any of references mentioned are to your liking you can't miss with this excellent lp. Recommended to prog and fusion fans.