BRUFORD LEVIN UPPER EXTREMITIES

Well I guess you can expect the kind of music it sounds when the two gentlemen who previously, years ago, joined in a legendary band with its unique musical quality and style, King Crimson. But this time they created a project called BLUE (Bruford Levin Upper Extremities) - what a great abbreviation - no wonder that the cover is in blue-ish fashion! Actually the two gentlemen ever made another project in David Torn's album Cloud About Mercury (1987) which featured similar line-up except the trumpeter was Mark Isham.

You might be guessing the music style would be similar with what the opening track 'Cerulean Sea' (7:03) sounds like. It sounds to me like an exploration of Levin stick bass playing and unique drumming style of Bruford. It's repetitive but it's not boring to me. The flavor of King Crimson 'Discipline' is quite obvious right here. It applies to majority of the tracks featured here. For those of you who love Crimson music in 'Discipline' (onwards) style must enjoy the music produced here. It's really an excellent album. One thing that I notice is that ''Cracking the Midnight Glass' (6:06) sounds to me like Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' in terms of string section.

Overall, this is definitely an excellent album that fans of King Crimson must buy this album. The trumpet playing is also great. The trumpet work by Chris Botti has made a significant contribution to BLUE. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild -GW