DOUBLE ESPRESSO

There are some live recordings that stay short from their studio versions losing some of the feeling that made them people's favourites, or they just couldn't captivate the audience as they should. This album is not that case. There are some other artists' live releases that besides projecting a great energy to the crowd, they add a special magic to the show, becoming later on a real classic of that artist. THIS IS THE CASE.

DOUBLE ESPRESSO, as its name says it, is a 2 disc set which includes songs from Tony's different band participations, some covers from other artists and of course tracks from his solo career. Actually they (Tony Levin Band) performed the album PIECES OF THE SUN almost in its entirety, playing only two songs from WATERS OF EDEN and none from the debut album, but that's not a bad thing, being the 2nd and 3rd CD's better than the 1st . Maybe he could include a couple more tracks from WoE, but I still like the repertory as it is. Some of the highlights of the record (besides some great performances of songs from his solo trajectory that I already reviewed in the studio versions) are:

"Black Dog", the classic from Led Zeppelin was not recognizable within the first 30 seconds where Tony starts with a soft intro making everyone wonder what are they going to play, but when the heavy riffs appear, the crowd went crazy. Great version where the voice is replaced by the guitar of Jesse Gress and synths by Mr. Synergy (Larry Fast). "L'Abito Della Sposa" is a song that he recorded with an Italian singer called Ivano Fossati. This is a mellow track where Tony sings in Italian in a melancholic way with nice atmosphere created by the synths and the stick. "Sleepless" is another familiar track from the King Crimson arsenal when Tony was part of the line-up. What can I say about this song? Well, that is a good song to hear it live, with powerful rhythm and this time vocals by Tony and Jerry Marotta. There's not much to say neither about a "Back in NYC" , a Genesis classic that Tony use to perform with Peter Gabriel in his concerts. Jerry Marotta is in charge of the vocal part again. "Elephant Talk" is a track performed in regular basis in both KC and TL gigs, and helps 'Papa Bear' to show off his abilities (instrumental, not vocal ones). "Peter Gunn" is another well known track by most of Prog-heads, written by Henry Mancini and made famous in this community by ELP. Very interesting version with the collaboration of the California Guitar Trio.

Special mention to the performance of excellent versions of Tony's solo career songs like "Pieces Of The Sun", "Silhouette", "Tequila", "Pillar Of Fire", "Ever The Sun Will Rise Again", "The Fifth Man" and "Utopia".

A flawless recording by one of the most influential and dominant bass players of our time, helped of course by other incredible musicians that complete a great live document which will please any Prog fan and especially the ones that have followed Tony's career or any of his bands and participations.

Essential.

Viva el Prog!

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