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Animation: Asiento

By Mark Corroto
March 13, 2011
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1969 was perhaps a watershed year for jazz in America. Trumpeter

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis, the anointed pied piper, recorded Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970). It was to be the beginning of jazz/rock fusion. Maybe better described as jazz/rock/soul/funk fusion. Miles wasn't one to miss out on trends. He saw the popularity of

Jimi Hendrix

guitar, electric
1942 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, with their rocked-out blues/soul sound, and he decided to get in on the action.

Fast-forward to the conservative purge of the 1980s, when the history books were rewritten with nary a mention of that electric Miles thing. Luckily, soon to be movers- and-shakers like saxophonist/producer

Bob Belden

arranger
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Belden and trumpeter

Tim Hagans

trumpet
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Hagans were still listening. Belden later produced the reissue of Bitches Brew, expanding the two discs to four and introducing 15 additional songs from those sessions and the raw materials for the original release. p>Together Belden and Hagans have mined this era before, on the trumpeter's two out-of-print electric releases, Animation/Imagination (Blue Note, 1999) and Re-Animation Live! (Blue Note, 2000), with keyboardist-heard-here,

Scott Kinsey

keyboards

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott Kinsey.

Asiento, recorded for the BBC, was from a live concert at New York's Merkin Hall as part of a series called Reissue: Classic Recordings Live. Completing the lineup are bassist

Matthew Garrison

bass, electric
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Garrison, drummer Guy Licata, and DJ Logic (turntables).

The bands wasn't so much reenacting Bitches Brew, as they were revitalizing it with modern tools. Teo Machero's tape splicing and the combination of keyboardists

Joe Zawinul

keyboards
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Zawinul,

Larry Young

organ, Hammond B3
1940 - 1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Young, and

Chick Corea

piano
1941 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Chick Corea could be left to just DJ Logic and Kinsey. Kinsey favors the music of

Joe Zawinul

keyboards
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Zawinul, flavoring his notes with the familiar

Weather Report

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Weather Report sound. Same for Garrison; on the opening "Pharaoh's Dance," he displays a fondness for

Jaco Pastorius

bass, electric
1951 - 1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Jaco Pastorius' heavy bass sounds.

Were Miles Davis here today, he certainly would be seasoning his brew with bits of hip-hop and drum 'n' bass, as heard here. Certainly the center of the recording is trumpeter

Tim Hagans

trumpet
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Hagans, playing his trumpet amplified by reverb, wah-wah pedal, and appropriate feedback. His echoey take on "Bitches Brew" is spot on, recreating the haunting weight of Miles' quest to change the direction of jazz.

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Track Listing

Pharaoh's Dance; Bitches' Brew; John McLaughlin; Miles Runs The Voodoo Down; Spanish Key; Sanctuary.

Personnel

Animation

Bob Belden: saxophones; Tim Hagans: trumpet; Scott Kinsey: keyboards, synthesizers; Matt Garrison: bass; DJ Logic: turntables; Guy Licata: drums.

Album information

Title: Asiento | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: RareNoiseRecords

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