Earthworks Underground Orchestra

YES～KING CRIMSON～UK他数々のバンドを渡り歩き現在はライブ活動を引退/スタジオ・ワークのみに専念し活動する、プログレッシブ・ロックシーンを代表する名ドラマー:BillBrufordが80年代後半から00年代末期までリーダー・ユニットとして活動したジャズ・バンド、Bill Brufordと名サクソフォーン奏者Tim Garlandの連名でリリースされた'06年作が'23年再発!
EARTHWORKS結成20周年を記念して、過去の楽曲をビッグ・バンド形式でセルフ・カヴァーした'04年12月米ニューヨーク公演を収録したライブ盤。'UpNorth''Pigalle''Footloose and Fancy Free'等、代表曲の数々をスウィングスタイルにアレンジし、二人と米国ホーン・セクション陣が織り成すオリジナルバージョンとはまた一味異なる味わいと意外性に満ちた一枚です!

This well-rendered, joyfully rocking, jazzy and coolly swinging -- not to mention crazy and from the outer limits -- live date (recorded at N.Y.C.'s Iridium Jazz Club in 2004) serves as a celebration of the marriage of both idioms, as well as a 20th anniversary party for the legendary Yes and King Crimson drummer's famed Earthworks band. The expanded orchestra concept began as a joint-force venture between the Earthworks repertoire and woodwind player Tim Garland's London-based, nine-piece Underground Orchestra. With Garland taking on the formidable arrangement duties, the material -- a cross-section of classic and new Earthworks pieces -- is infused with fresh energy and remarkable depth. The set launches with the fluttering jam "Libreville," which swirls staccato flute and trumpet runs (by Steve Wilson and Alex Siplagin, respectively) over jazzy piano and odd-metered, calypso-based bass and percussion. "Pigalle" is likewise a seductive, jump-for-joy free for all, while "Speaking in Wooden Tongues" goes through various phases of fusion, world music, and avant-garde, all the while allowing for extensive jazz improvisations (particularly by Wilson). Some tracks like the ballad "It Needn't End in Tears" are easier for listeners who prefer understandable melodies, but artsier-minded fans might enjoy stumbling through the chaos of the final track, "The Wooden Man Sings, and the Stone Woman Dances," to get to the more structured sections. ~ Jonathan Widran