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Reviews

Bozzio Levin Stevens — Situation Dangerous
(Magna Carta MA-9049-2, 2000, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2001-01-01

Situation Dangerous Cover art

For their second outing as a trio, these guys had a little more rehearsal time, and it shows. The eight tracks here come off as real compositions, and there is plenty of great ensemble playing to complement the improvisation. When the first cut, “Dangerous,” starts out with a slight variation on the riff from Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” you know you’re in for a fun-filled ride. Other little references are sprinkled throughout the tunes, be they King Crimson, Yes, or whatever. In this case, this is not a mark of musicians running out of ideas, but little tributes to their favorites and influences (plus a good game of Spot the Phrase for listeners). In addition to the aggressive playing on “Dangerous” and others, there are plenty of quieter moments, where Steve Stevens gets out his acoustic guitar. The interplay between that and Levin’s fretless bass on “X” is truly beautiful. Moving even further afield, the flamenco tune “Tziganne” is a real workout, rather like DiMeola or McLaughlin’s Spanish moods, only with percussion accompaniment.


Filed under: New releases, 2000 releases

Related artist(s): Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin, Bozzio Levin Stevens

 

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