ZAIYA LIVE

Now, one might think that a band headed by a full time dentist (guitarist Yoshihisa Shimizu is indeed a dentist) might not be all that notable but you would be wrong - the music is dense, complex and has many layers and the soloists are all very capable players. The music

And the Kenso live band attacks the material like pitbulls, lots of verve and energy but also plenty of dynamics - the quiet of From The Mystic Woods has a quiet and pensive feel outlining Kenichi Mitsuda and Kenichi Oguchi's layered polysynths leading to a lyrical bass melody performed by the great Shunji Saegusa who is one of the rare supportive players who when its time to solo he makes a musical statement not just random scales.

Tracks that are favorites are here, Sora Ni Hikaru from the II release, Les Phases De La Lune from Yume No Oka and the wonderful long version of The Ancient in my Brain - high energy workouts with lots of different and interesting chord progressions and Shimizu's guitar is at the forefront with Masayuki Muraishi's excellent high energy drumming adding propulsive heft.

Recording quality is excellent and indeed if this band sounds this way live they would be a must see in your area - in fact, the sounds on this disc seem scarcely believable for a live release - it sounds like a well produced studio album but with two keyboard players all of the studio layering is easily possible for this band.

Although not a great comparison, this release reminds me somewhat of the live bootleg of the swedish Anglagard band at Nearfest because on that release they had three mellotrons live and were able to perform all of their difficult compositions live and also work at extremes in dynamics although the musical context is VERY different.

Highly recommended - four stars from this reviewer. A great introduction to a band that should be more well known.