DAVE WRIGHT: BREAKING APART
THE MASTERS OF JAZZ DEMOLITION PERFORM A KICKIN’ SET OF ORIGINAL JAZZ FUSION
“Enough” is not a concept this band understands, whether referring to enough tension and release, enough emotion, or enough power.
Guitarist and composer Dave Wright turns up the volume and the energy on the aptly-named Breaking Apart, pumping out a series of high-powered original jazz fusion pieces with roots in rock, jazz and new jack swing.
With Wright assailing the guitar, Jay Mazzarella thrashing the bass and Jon Doty slamming the drums, the trio works hard to prove the theorem that “enough is never enough”.
DAVE WRIGHT: BREAKING APART
The set starts off hot with Wright’s original jazz fusion piece ‘Sand’, a 7/4 blast of desert air and twisting, bluesy Arabian melodies. ‘Urbanicity’ follows with a funky new jack swing groove, alternating between clean and overdrive guitars. Track three is a musical experiment: what do you get when you take the same new jack swing groove and layer it with complex, drifting harmonies? Answer: ‘Halcyon’, a peaceful, medium-groove song with a dark side that just might disturb your sleep.
The demolition level picks up with the title track ‘Breaking Apart’, a musical description of a lover’s fight (and right around the holidays, too) and the lingering emotions that follow. Jay Mazzarella contributes the next piece ‘Blighty’ to the album, an awesome example of tension and release, more tension and release, and a little more tension (not to mention some wild drumming). ‘Allah’ is a very old tune of Wright’s and was recorded here as a sound check, but when you hear the performance you’ll understand why it ended up on the album; although played with little or no rehearsal, it really works.
‘Life After Death’ is Wright’s anthem dedicated to anyone who has survived the death of someone they love. ‘Too Many People’ is a blues tune that digs into the emotions roused by overcrowded conditions (remember, rats attack each other when overcrowded). The set comes to a climactic close with ‘How Can I Stop’, a tune which started life as a composition with too much ‘cool jazz’ feel, forcing the question: “How can I stop it from continuing in this direction?” The answer may lie in the wailing guitar and eclectic drumming.
If you’re looking for emotional, high energy music with jazz, rock and new jack swing influences, then you can’t listen enough to this album.
LINER NOTES
- Sand (3:55)
- Urbanicity (3:00)
- Halcyon (3:45)
- Breaking Apart (9:50)
- Blighty (3:00)
- Allah (4:20)
- Life After Death (5:15)
- Too Many People (4:50)
- How Can I Stop (5:35)
All compositions by Dave Wright, except Blighty by Jay Mazzarella
Dave Wright: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, Photon MIDI guitar, synthesizer, percussion
Jay Mazzarella: electric bass, synthesizer, percussion
Jon Doty: drums
Produced by Dave Wright for Hellacious Modal Combat Jazz Records, Fort Nurney, South Dakota. Recorded at Studio X, Peekskill, NY, 1994.
TRACK LIST
1. Sand (Wright)
2. Urbanicity (Wright)
3. Halcyon (Wright)
4. Breaking Apart (Wright)
5. Blighty (Mazzarella)
6. Allah (Wright)
7. Life After Death (Wright)
8. Too Many People (Wright)
9. How Can I Stop (Wright)
STREAM THE WHOLE ALBUM
Click the ‘Play’ button below to listen to “Breaking Apart” in its entirety. Check out the great performances captured in the studio, and then come check out Dave Wright in a live performance!
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Very cool stuff
This has become one of my favorites! Listening to the different albums you have listed here, it’s incredible how unique they all sound. All the different styles and themes across your CDs are fantastic, but Breaking Apart nails it for me. Bravo!
I love all of the music on this website and always look forward to the new albums. Seeing the band live is awesome!
I bought this album years ago as a CD after listening to previews of Dave’s albums that were on CD Baby at the time. It is a very dynamic album–not a dull moment. I still have the CD, but I was very happy and surprised to see it show up on Dave’s website. The content on this website is amazing in scope and quality.