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Back on program 1111 we featured an exclusive interview with Peter Nicholls, vocalist of the band IQ. For 5 straight weeks, their disc Frequency was our #1 CD in requests for the weekly top 20. Peter gave us fantastic insight on the band at this point, also the different faces of the new release, the future of the band, progressive rock, and the upcoming tour dates as well.
By wide request we have reposted this interview after some technical difficulties.
Special thanks to Peter Nicholls, and Jon Freeman.
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One of my personal favorite releases of 2009 came in Moonjune Records release of Simak Dialog’s Demi Masa. Riza Arshad, keyboardist, spoke with us from the other side of the world to talk about this fantastic release.
This is the fifth album from Indonesian progressive jazz ensemble simakDialog. Led by keyboardist and composer Riza Arshad, the band also features guitarist Tohpati and bassist Adhitya Pratama, working alongside the twinned percussion thrust of Endang Ramdan and Erlan Suwardana. This latter pair are specialists in traditional Sundanese kendang drumming. Arshad’s compositional approach opens up from a jazz-rock palette, but his Fender Rhodes electric piano is clearly influenced by the crisp ring and shimmer of the Indonesian gamelan’s array of gongs, metallophones and double-headed drums. We can immediately hear the similarities between the keyboard’s percussive crackle and the sharp detonations of tunefully struck metal. The percussionists soon enter, clattering out their heavily organic patterns with roundly slapped skins, shaker bells and handclaps. Arshad frequently pushes his solos (or are they ongoing themes?) up to continually higher levels, urging repeated climaxes as each piece steadily amasses intensity. Tohpati is also attracted to resonant trebly zones, journeying from acoustic delicacy to a subtly distorted friction. The guitarist’s presence has a significance beyond his role on this album, as Tohpati is one of the Indonesian music scene’s most successful (and ubiquitous) players. Another element is tipped in later, with the percussionists chanting along to emphasise their dense structures. Arshad might recline in a hazy contemplation, but it doesn’t take him long to develop an insistent pulse, invariably reaching a frenzied state. There’s a clear recalling of the classic moves made by Chick Corea and Terje Rypdal in the 1970s, but this is laced with authentic gamelan elements utilised as part of this jazz-rock vocabulary. The result sounds both natural and fully integrated. This a particular realm that couldn’t be reached either by Western progressives or a traditional gamelan ensemble. The simakDialog involves a unique combination of both spheres, without making the commercially tempting mistake of cultural dilution.
Special thanks to the great Nardeeni, Riza Arshad, and being in studio after hours
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French fusion band Morglbl returned with a compilation just recently highlighting their first 2 recordings, and blew peoples minds yet AGAIN in 2009 with their latest offering titled Jazz For The Deaf. Just before they embarked on quite a busy tour of shows and music clinics up and down the east coast, the band stopped down to perform live in our studios to a limited audience. It was a phenomenal show not to be forgotten for 2009’s archives. The set list went like this:
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Interview Intro
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Tale Of Thibault
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Streets And Traps
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Tapas Nocturne
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The Untold Story
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The Monster Within Me
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Morglbl Circus
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22 Ounces
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Total Bricole
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Interview closing
Special thanks to Brett Holcomb, Blue Mouth, Ken Golden, Lauren Golden, Morglbl, and of course Jack Webster.
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On Saturday March 14th, 2009, Photographer and Bassist Richard Laird joined us to discuss his latest gallery of pictures showcased at http://www.jazz.com/gallery/richard-laird
Richard was extremely poignant on his time in the Mahavishnu Orchestra and reflecting on his early career. But the focal point was when Richard came across a collection of photographs in a file cabinet that he had taken in years past of legendary jazz artists but had mostly forgotten about. The discovery of these historic photos that feature Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Elvin Jones, Keith Jarrett and many others led to the formation of a Jazz.com Richard Laird Gallery at http://jazz.com
Special thanks to the great Walter Kolosky. You are the man!
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Derek Sherinian joined us to discuss his latest offering Molecular Heinosity. The disc peaked at #4 in the month of April in our weekly top 20 in requests.
Special thanks to Jon Freeman
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On 2/21/09, we had the pleasure of having one of the masters on our program. On radio program 1097, we featured an exclusive interview with drummer and percussionist Bill Bruford. Bill joined us to talk about his self titled, forthcoming autobiography on Jawbone Press. We covered many areas of the excellent new book, and Bill’s journey through music to his recent retirement from public performance.
Please enjoy this candid interview on the overview of his career….a special time for the archives. One not forgotten.
http://billbruford.com
Tom Gagliardi
Host/Producer
http://gagliarchives.com
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Chris Poland has been a long time friend and guest to our program over the years. Known originally from Megadeath, Chris Poland’s Ohm became an immediate hit on our program, and a personal favorite to yours truly. His work with Robertino ‘Pag’ Pagliari is something very special and exclusive. The team work is second to none. No matter who plays the drums in this project, they pack a punch. On program 1094 we featured an exclusive interview with Chris Poland. Chris joined us to talk about the recent disc titled Circus Of Sound, upcoming tour dates, and some great personal news as well.
A special thanks goes out to Steve Bauer. He really understands what we do.
Enjoy my friends!
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This was program 1089, our annual holiday edition. This year’s was a special edition as we featured an exclusive interview with composer, keyboardist, and violinist Eddie Jobson of UKZ. Eddie joins us to discuss the forthcoming UKZ album and upcoming New York, NY performance of this exciting and highly anticipated super group featuring Eddie along with Trey Gunn, Alex Machacek, Marco Minnemann, and Aaron Lippert.
This was holiday program was a special show that also featured in studio guests Kevin Feely from Nearfest, Michael Ostrich from Progscape.com, and staffers Jack Webster and Frankie ‘the fan’ Alfeeri.
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Guitarist Gary Boyle is best known for his time in founding one of the great British jazz-rock bands, Isotope. This band has been a favorite on our program over the years but not just our listeners, but the hosts and producers as well! Isotope arose in 1972 and garnered as much attention as the greats of the time, Soft Machine and Nucleus. After their signing to an independent record label, Isotope’s future was bright. The band would release the album Illusion which instantly became a classic to jazz rock fans throughout Europe. The line up was stellar. Gary Boyle on Guitar, legendary ex Soft Machine bassist and guest of ours over the years, Hugh Hopper, keyboardist Laurence Scott, and drummer Nigel Morris. Isotope’s fortunes only improved with hundreds of shows under their belt with this timeless line up. Steve Feigenbaum of Cuneiform Records pulls another rabbit out of his Radio Bremen archives ‘hat’ in the outstanding 2008 archive recordings of Isotope in this period titled Golden Section. The archive release features over an hour of material from 3 different dates. Gary joined us to talk about the new archive, his time in the band, his reflections from that tour that brought them to the U.S., and his current performing life. This is an interview not to miss, and another special chat with a gentleman that has been a big part of our program’s playlists over the last 17 years. Thank you Gary, and a special thanks to Steve Feigenbaum…
