Left-of-center, instrumental rock/fusion. An electrifying follow-up to WILD MAN OF BORNEO

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Instrumental Rock, JAZZ: Jazz Fusion



Details:
Ferenzik here. Iâm writing this one. (Hey, it feels good so far!)

DEVILâS PLAYGROUND is my second effort in the world of âFusionâ (man, I hate that word, but letâs give the DEVIL his due â itâs fusion). Intended as a follow-up to my first solo effort WILD MAN OF BORNEO, and I wanted it to be bigger, badder, meaner, leaner, nicer, cleaner, et cetera, et cetera. Looking back through a soft-focus lens from over a decade away, I think I took the ball a little farther down the court. (Hoorayâ¦for me.)

Whatâs DEVIL about? Wellâ¦Part of it was that I wanted to pay homage to the music that fueled my aspirations, as a both a musician and composer. I loved the musical explosion of the early 70âs where groups like Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra appeared. And I was really influenced by the scope of Frank Zappaâs music, which seemed more engaging than what I was hearing on the radio, and which also managed to make me laugh at the same time. I was also discovering jazz, tunneling back to the roots of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and other giants. So, there was a lot of musical innovation going on at the time, under the surface, and it was seeping into the pop music.

The other part was I wanted to write music that didnât take itself all that seriously. At the time, a lot of pop music (and fusion) took itself very, very seriously, because â to use a word that was bandied about â it had to be HEAVY. That always bothered me. After all, you âplayâ music, and musicians are âplayersâ so there didnât seem (nor does it seem now) any compelling reason to get all frowny-faced about something that was (is) essentially fun to do.

Anyway, back to the PLAYGROUNDâ¦The songs here have all the usual suspects huddled inside (big guitar solos, cool bass work, hot drum licks, keyboard wizardry, saxophone shenanigans, fast notes galoreâ¦blah, blah, blah). Truthfully, Iâm humbled by the contribution of the musicians who joined the effort here (Andy Timmons, Jesse Gress, Chico Huff, Ron Kerber, Van Romaine, Daryl Burgee, Tom Cohen, and Iâm sure Iâm leaving out a few). There was an effort on this CD to incorporate sound design stuff, making for some atmospheric listening (dare we say ânew age?â). And there was more of an effort to flesh out the arrangements, with what was cutting edge stuff at the time (can you say âsampler?â). The mix still holds up, thanks to the work of John Anthony who co-produced in such a way as to KICK IT UP A NOTCH (thanks bud!).

Other than all this, I think I should offer cautionary note: If youâre looking for the smoothness of Kenny G or Spiro Gyra, then turn around, go back now. Nothing against those guys â DEVILâS PLAYGROUND is a little jarring and raggedy by comparison, but thatâs what makes it what it is.

OK, I sincerely hope you Dig it!!!!!