TUNNELS

The quartet sounds more focused and tight in this effort, even if I personally dislike the use of midi-vibes instead of keyboards.Big part of the sound development comes from the efficient guitar playing of Van Manakas, great hooks and solos along with old-styled jazzy tunes, performed in a modern way.The executions are interesting and fairly complex with plenty of impressive twists, light improvisations and a good amount of atmospheric textures, with Jones reminding every now and then why he is regarded a top league bassist, delivering an abstract and at times phenomenal bass performance.The music passes from ethereal moments to schizophenic plays with comfort, based on the tempo changes and the sudden breaks, often revealing some individual lightnings on bass or midi-vibes solos, while I insist on Manakas being the underrated hero here, his smooth guitar touches add the best colors in Tunnels' offerings.On the other hand some robotic passages, the isolated midi-vibes masturbations and the Ethnic-oriented ''Boyz in the Ud'' are not my cup of tea to say the truth, too cold and monotonous.But the bulk of the album is balanced and well-performed with moments that offer supertight and interesting Fusion experiments.

Unusual but quite good Jazz Fusion.Much better than the mediocre debut, more balanced with a clear direction and ideas focusing on virtuosic , jazzy plays and atmospheric flavors.Recommended.

Wagnon uses his MIDI-vibes to control synth patches, so although he often uses traditional tuned percussion sounds, many songs sound like they have traditional keyboards. And while Van Manakis is no John Goodsall on guitar, he certainly has the chops to keep up with a giant like Jones.

With Brand X guitarist John Goodsall sitting in for three of the ten tracks, there is certainly a Brand X feeling to the album. And it does come close. They are missing the blinding fast keyboard/guitar unison riffs, and that's bad. But they are also missing Phil Collins singing, so that more than makes up for it.

The songs vary between Brand X-like fusion fiestas and less structured free jamming. And it's all good.

My only complaint is the two tracks with "prepared voice" by Sarah Pillow. The odd treatment distracts from the music, and even gets a bit annoying at times.

"Syzygy Incident" is my favourite because everything is intricate and the drums and bass are absolutely outstanding ! I love this stuff. "Wall To Wall Sunshine" is guitar led early as bass, drums and vibes fill out the sound. Violin replaces the guitar as they continue to trade off in this MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA flavoured track. "Frank's Beard" features these odd metered drum patterns as bass, vibes and violin help out.It gets pretty intense before 7 minutes. Drums only after 8 minutes. "Diabollocks" has this beat as sounds come and go. Nice. Bass a minute in. Not a lot of melody here and the vibes are prominant too. "Progressivity" has this full, rich sound with vibes over top.Violin takes a turn then the vibes are back around 3 minutes.Violin is back 4 1/2 minutes in.

"7,584,333,440 Miles Away" is a 20 1/2 minute studio jam. Intricate drumming early with bass as vibes come and go. Guitar helps out too. Check out the drumming after 2 1/2 minutes and before 5 1/2 minutes. Impressive ! The tempo does shift quite a bit.The guitar leads after 10 minutes. It gets pretty intense then it settles after 12 minutes and builds. It settles again with vibes as the guitar makes some noise. "Some Things Must Last" is a laid back tune as the violin comes and goes. "Fusionauts" has this base of drums and bass as the guitar plays over top.Vibes and guitar take turns on this one. "Orfeo's Demon" has these heavily treated female vocal expressions. Sarah is Marc's wife by the way. Intricate sounds come and go in this interesting track. "High Tea At 49th And 10th" features some more impressive drumming and jazzy bass lines.

These guys are gunslingers and they've delivered an interesting and complex recording that never gets tiring. Easily 4 stars and a must for Fusion fans.

As a bit unusual fusion trio, they play great music - modern jazz fusion, with some roots, but sounding very fresh. With strong contemporary jazz element. Being in fact minimalistic trio, they sound as real full-body sounded band.

I believe most important element of their music on this albums is perfectly balanced proportions of all components. Their fusion sounds fresh, but remembering its roots, never screaming, in moments even soft, but never too safe or cheesy. You can hear plenty of electronic sounds in album's music, but at the same time bass is on the first plan, and all electronics are used very tastefully.

In whole - great contemporary fusion album.

Syzygy Incident, one of the most alluring pieces, opens the album. It is an up-tempo improvisation in a very weird key. Simply mesmerizing, I can't come up with any references really. Wall to Wall Sunshine is more traditional fusion, similar to Mahavishnu Orchestra, especially the interplay between the guitar and violins. Frank's Beard stays in Mahavishnu territory, be it that the fretless bass is very prominent and almost sounds atonal. It's another excellent composition, the ambience created is very moody, entrancing almost.

Diabollocks is a next gem in the chromatic tonalities of this band. Due to some jungle drum&bass effects and a nice melody on midi vibes (some electronic xylophone apparently) the band manages to give each track a unique identity. Upon first listen the non-melodic approach might wear you out, but this album is a grower and with each listen the number of songs that you appreciate will increase. Progressivity is made around a midi vibes solo. Again the bass and drum work is impressive, very subtle and enthralling here

After 33 minutes of dense music, the 20-minute Miles Away is not for the faint of heart, 20 minutes of abstract music, bordering on free-jazz, without melodies and only occasional accents or short solos by the soloists. Half-way through the players relax a bit and even get into something of a zeuhl mood. Most impressive piece.

55 minutes in and I'm already seeing 5 stars rising at the horizon, so everything that follows is a bonus: Some Things Must Last is more melodic. Complex as it is, it's a welcome rest point. Fusionauts is good on its own, but amidst all the excellence here I usually skip it. Orfeo's Demon adds vocals, experimental and non-melodic, and a laidback trip-hop groove: think Massive Attack goes free-fretless-bass-jazz or something similar... High Tea ends the album in due fashion with abstract sounds on a jagged rhythmic section.

Amazing album. 4.5 stars.

About the album,this is almost 100% fusion/jazz/progressive rock filled with strange sounds such as vibraphones,fretless bass played by Jones and a midi-vibes player,which support the role of keyboards handled by Wagnon himself.Musically the compositions run through fast and furious rhythms paused by sudden breaks and sometimes long midi-vibes passages.The guitars are quite jazzy with good soloing,the drum work is very complex and there are also a couple of interesting melodies in here,but the overall result is a bit uneven,as some parts of it sound too modern or ''digitalized'' and there are even a few unnecessary quiet moments with ambient-like atmospheres.So if you're after some BRAND X-like fusion with a touch of modern technologies and players,this album should easily appeal to your tastes.Personally I don't expect to hear an album filled with fillers and boring solos by such a talented company of musicians...2 stars for me...

Two things really make this album successful. First, John O'Riely Jr. takes over behind the drum kit. He's hands down the best drummer the band has had. He's style is less jazzy than the others and more rock oriented. This brings an important energy that I always felt was somewhat lacking in the percussion department. The difference will strike you from the first beat. He takes all the sophistication that we love from jazz but unlike their previous drummers he really brings a rock energy into the concoction. Secondly, Wagnon focuses more on atmosphere than he does on providing melodic lines. Again, the difference is immediately noticeable. It's as if the band goes from being 2-D to 3-D. He still contributes a good bit of his fantastic lead work, but his added role really adds new depth to the music.

As mentioned before this album is much less jazzy than previous efforts of typical albums in the genre (In fact I when I hear "Io's Dream" jazz is one of the last ideas that comes to me). However, I don't want to scare off those reading these reviews for a fine Fusion album to invest in. Believe me this will certainly give you your jazz fix, but it also has more to offer than simply that. I was strongly tempted to give this 5 stars as it nearly deserves it, but the inclusion of "Green Eyes" angers me enough to bump it down. This piece is obviously a throw away. The rest of the album excretes energy and inspiration yet this track just meanders around the same theme for 5 mins without any real purpose. 4.5 stars