Live From The Seven Spheres (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
Cameron Graves
Released April 8, 2022
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nN5EpgvRc7obOnbqd90tQKdWIY6_QxZq8
Spotify:
About:
With 2017’s Planetary Prince and 2021’s Seven, pianist/composer Cameron Graves established himself as a visionary creative force emerging from the Los Angeles genre-defying collective The West Coast Get Down. Listening closely to these critically acclaimed juggernauts of hardcore precision exposes a musical alchemy influenced as much by 1970s jazz-rock fusion and classical music as it is by the likes of Pantera, Slipknot and Meshuggah. For his next journey, Live from the Seven Spheres, Graves expands on the otherworldly inspirations, reimagining songs from both of his studio albums to present an unapologetic powerhouse that grabs on and refuses to let go.
Track Listing:
1. Sacred Spheres (Live) 03:05
2. Planetary Prince (Live) 11:15
3. Sons of Creation (Live) 06:59
4. Red (Live) 03:00
5. The Life Carriers (Live) 02:55
6. Mansion Worlds (Live) 02:59
7. The End of Corporatism (Live) 23:00
Personnel:
Cameron Graves: piano
Colin Cook: guitar
Max Gerl: bass
Mike Mitchell: drums
Special Guest
Kamasi Washington: tenor saxophone (2, 4)
Producers: Gary Lux and Cameron Graves
Mixing Engineer: Gary Lux
Mastering Engineer: Chris Muth
Review:
Pianist Cameron Graves came to fame as a member of the West Coast Get Down alongside saxophonist Kamasi Washington, trombonist Ryan Porter and bassists Miles Mosley and Thundercat, among others. But before that he was a member of Jada Pinkett Smith’s metal band, Wicked Wisdom, and he’s subsequently recorded standards with Michelle Coltrane (Alice’s daughter), and is currently in bassist Stanley Clarke’s band. Graves’ first album as a leader, 2017’s Planetary Prince, featured Washington, Porter and Thundercat, though the music was a bombastic kind of post-Chick Corea fusion, with two-fisted, hooky melodies providing a launch pad for epic solos. His second album, 2021’s Seven, introduced an entirely new band and a totally different approach. The pieces were short and meticulously composed; guitarist Colin Cook, bassist Max Gerl, and drummer Mike Mitchell whipped the music through hairpin turns and sudden stops and starts, all played with fierce intensity and mixed with the impression of stunning volume. It was like a cross between the fusion of Return To Forever and the intricate progressive metal of Meshuggah. This live album features versions of five tracks from Seven that hew close to the studio versions, and sprawling, shredtastic interpretations of two pieces from Planetary Prince that allow everyone to cut loose. One of the latter, the closing “The End Of Corporatism,” runs to 23 minutes as each player gets a moment in the spotlight and makes the most of it, Mitchell in particular. This is music meant to be played at wall-rattling volume.
Philip Freeman (DownBeat)
