THE SOUND OF SURPRISE

I don't get easily bored to listening on traditional jazz, and therefore I think I enjoyed this album very much. I think that Bill has recently done much more interesting and better material than his former King Crimson colleagues have managed to do. The sounds on this release are great, and the music has lots of interesting rhythmic ideas, which shouldn't elevate the sound of a surprise, as the compositions are mostly written by Bill. The recent Earthworks line-up has more neo-classical feeling in its music than the band's first incarnation had at the 1980's, and is thus more accessible to many listeners I believe. "Come to dust" is one of the most touching piece of music I have ever heard, and "Triplicity" has some rhythms which kind of I have never heard before (Bill playing simultaneously three different rhythms). "Teaching Vera to Dance" starts with a bass solo, symbolizing the dance step lessons to Vera, and after two minutes practices, the whole band accompanies the dance. "Half Life" sounds like a Red oriented King Crimson composition arranged for the acoustic jazz quartet. If you like jazz and Bill's works, would certainly recommend checking this album out. Following the high quality standards of DGM releases, there's also a funny mpg video clip of the band playing live here, more material found from "Footloose and Fancy Free" Live DVD.