The Guitar Channel

Favorite Albums of 2010

Looking back over this past year, I really believe 2010 has been the most incredible year in music I've ever experienced. It's certainly been the best year I've seen since I started The Guitar Channel in 2004. On one hand, I've never witnessed as much amazing live music as I have this year. There were the great Winter NAMM gigs (such as OHM w/ Mike Kenneally, Alex Machacek w/ Ric Fierabracci, the Bombastic Meatbats, and more), awesome Chicago gigs by Mike Stern, Allan Holdsworth, and others, and of course the festivals - starting with the incredible Baked Potato 40th Anniversary Jazz Festival in May, the legend-packed Crossroads Guitar Festival in June, and the capper: the amazing New Universe Music Festival last month.

Then of course, there were the great albums of 2010. And there were a lot of them. Here are my favorite albums that were released this year, in no particular order.

Alex Machacek featuring Marco Minnemann - 24 Tales (Review)

A remarkable disc featuring music Machacek composed over a 52-minute Minnemann drum solo.

Michael Landau, Robben Ford, Jimmy Haslip, Gary Novak - Renegade Creation (Review)

Awesome blues rock super group that brings together guitar legends Landau and Ford. Killer playing; amazing guitar tones.

Ray Riendeau - Atmospheres

This one came out of nowhere and really grabbed me. Great collection of fusion tunes with a killer guest list that includes Alex Machacek, Jeff Kollman, Greg Koch, Nat Janoff, and many others.

Lenny White - Anomaly

Fantastic old-school jazz rock album from the legendary drummer. Includes guests Jimmy Herring and David Gilmore.

Prashant Aswani - Sonically Speaking (Review)

Tasty, melodic instrumental rock disc with killer playing and writing. Includes guests Brett Garsed and Rob Caggiano.

Bombastic Meatbats featuring Chad Smith - More Meat

Awesome throwback fusion with great grooves. Features Jeff Kollman on guitar.

Charlie Hunter - Public Domain

This may seem like an out-of-left-field choice, but I can't get enough of this album. Features Hunter playing solo versions of old public domain classics chosen by his grandfather.

Other favorites from 2010:

Kirk Fletcher - My Turn
John McLaughlin - To The One (Review)
John Czajkowski and Marco Minnemann - West ZooOpolis
Steve Lukather - All's Well That Ends Well
Tetsuo Sakurai - Vital World (Review)
Ranjit Barot - Bada Boom
Michael Dolce - Everything Til Now
Jeff Richman - Like That (Interview)

See Also:

Favorite Albums of 2009
Favorite Albums of 2008
Favorite Albums of 2007
Favorite Albums of 2006

Review: Tetsuo Sakurai - Vital World

In 2001, Japanese bass legend Tetsuo Sakurai (Casiopea, Jimsaku, solo artist) released Gentle Hearts (Victor Entertainment) - a critically acclaimed instrumental rock fusion album that featured the stellar combo of Greg Howe on guitar, and Dennis Chambers on drums. This energetic disc was loaded with heavy riffs, and killer guitar work from Howe. The band also took their act on the road, and subsequently released Gentle Hearts Tour 2004 (2005 - Victor Entertainment) on CD and DVD. Now for his latest album, Vital World (King Records), Sakurai has joined forces with Howe and Chambers once again, and the results are even heavier and more guitar-driven than the group’s previous outings.

What’s striking about Vital World is its sheer heaviness. While it does include shades of jazz harmony here and there, the music is largely driven by heavy guitar riffs - Sakurai is definitely shooting for a rock vibe with this album (Some tunes could even be described as prog metal). From a guitar perspective, Greg Howe’s style makes him a great fit for the material on this disc. Unlike many other players who make the attempt, he sounds authentic when utilizing a jazz influenced vocabulary with a rock approach and tone.

The album’s in-your-face opener “Critical Planet” sounds like a throwback to “Brain Storm” from the Gentle Hearts album. It’s a relentless, slap-bass tour de force that gives Sakurai a chance to show off his considerable chops. Up next is “Alien’s Feast” - an uber-heavy tune that would not sound out of place on a Planet X record. It also features Howe shredding over a harmonic minor tonality - something he rares does on his own albums. “A Tear Of The Clown” is a heavy tune as well, but in more of melodic “arena rock” vein. Howe’s solo near the end of this piece may be his best on the album. The V chord at the end of the progression gives him a chance to peel off some nice altered scale runs.

Sakurai’s amazing bass work is showcased once again on “Are You Ready” - a fun, uptempo tune that may best be described as instrumental pop rock (if there is such a thing anymore). Following a killer Chambers drum break in the middle of the tune, Sakurai takes a wild solo chock-full of crazy slapping and fast runs.

The following piece, “Another Kingdom,” is one of the only songs I’ve ever heard that successfully fuses the styles of neo-classical and jazz. The Yngwie-esque A section features long 32nd-note lines doubled between the guitar and bass (reminiscent of “Flight Of The Bumblebee”), while the double-time B section reminded me of a jazz orchestra on a film score session. This would seem to be a strange combination, but the two sides to this tune flow together nicely.

Two more heavy riff-based tunes follow - “Triangle Square” which features some Eastern-influenced melodies and an off-the-rails drum solo courtesy of Chambers, and “Monster Parade,” one of the hardest-rocking tunes on the disc. This song also has Howe playing some amazing outside lines. In a total gear shift, the album closes with “Father” - a flowing melodic ballad that serves as a nice palette-cleanser after the onslaught you’ve just experienced for the previous 7 tunes.

Vital World is certainly one of the best heavy fusion albums of the year. Sakurai obviously went into this project with the intention of laying down some aggressive music, and he delivered in a big way. He explores a wide-array of rock styles here, yet still leaves room for his jazz and improvisational side. And with Howe and Chambers, he has the perfect bandmates for this endeavor - Both are well-versed in the styles presented on Vital World, and have an obvious rapport with Sakurai from the trio’s previous projects. Highly recommended.


Tetsuo Sakurai - Vital World (King Records)

Personnel:

Tetsuo Sakurai - Bass
Greg Howe - Guitar
Dennis Chambers - Drums
Taiki Imaizumi - Keyboards

Tracklisting:

1. Critical Planet
2. Alien's Feast
3. A Tear Of The Clown
4. Are You Ready
5. Another Kingdom
6. Triangle Square
7. Monster Parade
8. Father

 

Rich

List all reviews

Tetsuo Sakurai's "Vital World" with Greg Howe and Dennis Chambers to be released Sept 14th

Renowned Japanese bassist Tetsuo Sakurai will release his new album Vital World on Sept 14 2010. This project reunites him with his Gentle Hearts album bandmates Greg Howe (guitar) and Dennis Chambers (drums). The new album is now available for pre-order through Abstract Logix. See tracklisting below.

Tetsuo Sakurai - Vital World

1. Critical Planet
2. Alien's Feast
3. A Tear Of The Clown
4. Are You Ready
5. Another Kingdom
6. Triangle Square
7. Monster Parade
8. Father

Greg Howe to record "Gentle Hearts" follow up with Tetsuo Sakurai and Dennis Chambers

Lots of Greg Howe news lately! Howe has announced he'll be recording a new album in June with bassist Tetsuo Sakurai and drummer Dennis Chambers. This will be a follow-up to the trio's amazing 2001 release Gentle Hearts. A Gentle Hearts Live album and DVD (review) were also released in 2005. Look for the new album sometime later this year.

Greg Howe to tour Japan with Tetsuo Sakurai and Dennis Chambers

Greg Howe will be touring Japan with bassist Tetsuo Sakurai and drummer Dennis Chambers starting July 31st. Tour dates are below. This incredible fusion super-group previously toured in 2004 in support of Sakurai's Gentle Hearts album (which featured both Howe and Chambers). The result was the fantastic live album Gentle Hearts Tour 2004. Not sure if they will be recording this time around. Here are the dates:

July 31st       Maihama, Japan  Club Ikspiari
August 1st     Tokyo, Japan     STB139 Sweetbasil
August 2nd     Sendai, Japan     Enn
August 3rd     Yokohama, Japan Motion Blue
August 4th     Yokohama, Japan Motion Blue
August 5th     Fukui, Japan     Hibikino Hall
August 7th     Nagoya, Japan     Blue Note Nagoya
August 8th     Kyoto, Japan     Rag
August 10th    Matsue, Japan     Matsue International Jazz Festival
August 11th    Kobe, Japan     Wynterland

Review: Tetsuo Sakurai - Gentle Hearts Tour 2004 DVD

In 2001, Japanese bassist Tetsuo Sakurai released an awesome hard-hitting fusion album called "Gentle Hearts." This great album featured Greg Howe on guitar and Dennis Chambers on drums. The trio did a tour last year with Akira Onozuka on keys, the result of which is this great live DVD "Gentle Hearts Tour 2004" (they released a CD version as well which has some, but not all, of the tunes from the DVD version). The DVD mainly consists of a show recorded live in Yokohama Japan on September 5th, 2004. Most of the songs are off the Gentle Hearts album. They also play "Proto-Cosmos" and "Extraction" from the awesome Greg Howe, Victor Wooten, & Dennis Chambers album "Extraction", and a couple of others including a cool bass & drums duet called "Firewater." It also has a couple of rehearsal clips, an interview segment, and a couple of other backstage pieces. I don't know if the songs were played at the show in the same order that they appear on the disc, but it seems that way since Howe gets better as the disc progresses. I'd say Howe's best playing is on "Extraction" and "Wonderland in the Sky." I really like Akira Onozuka's keyboard playing on this disc as well. He does some cool trading off with Howe on "Extraction," and plays great solos on "Proto Cosmos" and "Wonderland in the Sky." Sakurai plays a six-string bass throughout the show, and is an absolute monster! On "Brain Storm" he's frickin unconscious! Greg Howe fans, and fans of the heavy-fusion genre in general will definitely dig this DVD. Highly recommended!

I purchased my copy through Abstract Logix.

Rich

List all reviews