MACHINE MASS

Here we have the fourth studio album from Machine Mass, here amended to Machine Mass Sextet as while they normally have no more than four people involved including guests, this time we are up to six. Founders Michel Delville (guitar, Roland GR09 guitar synthesizer) and Tony Bianco (drums) are at the heart of everything while Antoine Guenet (piano) returns as a full member following on from his guest appearance on the last album, and these are then joined by three new members, Laurent Blondiau (trumpet), Manuel Hermia (saxophones) and Damien Campion (double bass). Only one of the songs is a full band composition, with Delville providing three, and Campion and Guenet one each. They kick off with Coltrane's "Africa" and ends with Zawinul's "In A Silent Way", which was of course originally recorded by Zawinul with John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, and Miles Davis on Miles's album of the same name.

This is jazz, experimental and at times quite avant-garde, but jazz nonetheless which each of the musicians listening to what is happening and being involved to lesser or greater degrees. I am sure that during the title track Michel went off and grabbed himself a drink, or two, as his input to this is minor in terms of what he played but huge in terms of what he did not as he allows the horns and piano to very much take the centre stage. I must confess the first time I played this album I was not too sure, but I also knew that music like often takes time and by the time I was going through it the third time I was a deep fan. Music like this is very special indeed, with everyone involved living in the minute and bouncing their ideas to try to capture the magic they feel, and it is up to the listener to put themselves in that very same space to fully appreciate it.

I have long been a fan of Michel Delville and his different projects, and this is yet another which fans of complex jazz would do very will indeed to discover.  

Yet again there have been some changes in the Machine Mass camp, and here founder members, guitarist Michel Delville (The Wrong Object; douBt; Alex Maguire Sextet) and drummer Anthony Bianco (douBt; Elton Dean; Dave Liebman) have brought in keyboard player Antoine Guenet (The Wrong Object; Sh.TG.N; Univers Zero), to assist them in their adventures. As a starting point the album is quite simple in its intent, namely that in one day last March the trio recorded some Hendrix songs live in the studio to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 'Are You Experienced?'. It's just from there that it gets a little more complex.

I am sure that everyone has their favourite Hendrix songs, and probably also their favourite Hendrix covers. For me there has always been something whimsical and emotive about 'The Wind Cries Mary', while I still believe that The Hamsters monumental album from 1990, 'Electric Hamsterland', takes some beating. But what we have here is something that Hendrix himself would have probably appreciated, namely three top musicians taking his songs as a starting point and then improvising, twisting and melding, them into something that is barely recognisable yet paying true homage to the craftsman who created them initially. Whenever a guitarist dares to cover a song created by a master then they are putting themselves up to fail, but what Michel has done here brilliantly is not only show that he too is a genius with his instrument, but has filled the interpretations full of jazz intensity and experimentalism, to create something that cannot be directly compared as it is just so very different indeed.

While fans of Jimi will enjoy hearing what Machine Mass have managed to do with classic Hendrix songs, this album is also very much for those who may not be close to the originals. Antoine uses some wonderful Hammond sounds as he Anthony try to keep everything under control while Michel sounds like he is deconstructing his guitar while somehow keeping sounds emanating from it. This album is incredibly impressive on every level, from the musicianship and arrangements through to the way they have ripped this material to pieces and then put it back, lovingly and with honour, into a brand-new format. And that they finish with 'The Wind Cries Mary' is the icing on the cake. Superb.

Review originally posted at www.therocktologist.com

Sometimes I ask to myself why not expanding horizons, why do I have to keep listening to the same artists I love, when the world has a lot of prolific and talented musicians whose work is really worth listening. So my first advice, be open-minded and receive with your ears wide open new music, no matter the name of the band is not familiar. Well, I am saying this because the experience I had with Machine Mass, was great.

Machine Mass is a trio that features Tony Bianco on drums, Michel Delville on guitar and Dave Liebman on sax and winds, they released this album in early 2014 via Moonjune Records, though it was recorded back in 2012, in an impressive one-afternoon session. In this album we will find great music with a clear jazz fusion orientation, some might say progressive jazz, so if you like this kind of music, I am sure you will have a feast here. The album opens with "Inti" its self-titled track, since the very first seconds you will hear a kind of jam, like a warm up, because after two minutes a new structure begins. Now It with the addition of electric guitar, the music has an experimental touch, though the jazz tunes are still evident.

"Centipede" brings more sax in the first seconds, also we can listen to nice bass notes that along with the drums and the late electric guitar creates an intense and delicious jazzy meal that will make you shake your body, and though of course this is not a dancing music, your body will enjoy the rhythm (if there is one) and let the music flow. "Lloyd" has a calmer sound that reminds me of some old-school jazz, because evidently, they are studied and talented guys who have been into this scene for several years. Just to make a reference (not a comparison), in some moments the names of Soft Machine (in its jazziest era) or even Weather Report come to my mind.

"In a Silent Way" of course is a tribute to the great Miles Davis. Here Machine Mass uses nice eastern elements accompanied with a not so easy to dig guitar sound that creates a spacey atmosphere, so you might close your eyes and let the music do the rest, you will feel good. "A Sight" starts with hypnotic bass lines and later winds and drums join, so together begin to create a new structure, with a soft rhythm but contrasted with the tension created by the bass. Later the music progresses, the intensity increases and it becomes better and better.

"Utoma" is a wonderful jam that has some soundscapes, so the music besides being jazzy, has a prog electronic touch that I liked a lot. I like the drummer's work, he puts a lot of energy and makes the necessary movements to empower the music, and I like the sax because it never bores me, I mean, it appears only when it has to.

"The Secret Place" is a truly different track, here the sound is much, much calmer, relaxing and with the addition of vocals, for the first time in the album. The singer is Saba Tewelde, whose voice is charming.

The longest and probably best track comes with "Elisabeth", in whose 12 minutes one can truly enjoy a mixture of jazz fusion with some electronic loops, experimental and even a Canterbury-esque sound. What I love from this track is that it brings a salad of sounds that made me change my emotions minute by minute, the music is very visual, so one can create images in the head, create a road that has to be driven, so it is our responsibility how to follow that road and how to get to the end. The final track is "Voice" which sums up what Machine Mass offers in the whole album.

It is a good progressive jazz experience, fans of music without rules might like this one.

Enjoy it!

The multinational project MACHINE MASS, also known as Machine Mass Trio, is a venture that started out back in 2010 and released their first full length production back in 2011. While this project has the duo of Delville and Bianco as core members they are at their best when working in a trio formation, and for the recording of their second album they invited veteran saxophonist Dave Liebman to contribute. The end result was the album "Inti", released through Moonjune Records at the start of 2014.

High quality musicianship defines this sophomore production from Machine Mass, a vital and energetic production that balances back and forth between fusion and jazz fusion, between the controlled and the untamed, between the planned and composed and improvisations of a more liberal nature. Enticing melodies and harmony based undercurrents coexist with atonal details and twisted instrument sounds, in an often intense and impressive manner. There's a certain emphasis on jazz over rock throughout, but all in all, this is a high quality (mostly) instrumental production that merits a check by those who have an interest in fusion of a fairly expressive nature.

A wonderful piece of fusion, Machine Mass's first LP covers a lot of ground and does so with skill and raw energy. This is a record that really draws you in with its myriad of styles and moods played with all the feeling and force of a tech death band. The styles range from fast paced smooth jazz, to something off a noir soundtrack, to guitar solos and supports worthy of Mahavishnu Orchestra, to something as beautifully and epically melancholy and bitter as the opener to "Maggot Brain". Like any self respecting jazz album it is all improv of the highest order, the expression of a band high on spirit and emotion. Said emotion, as drummer Tony Bianco notes, was coming from the place of his wife fighting an illness and succumbing, and the band conveys all their shared sadness and anger and newfound peace and happiness through the best jazz in years. One word to describe this masterful recording: Power. A wonderful and highly recommended listen.