Search - Matthias Lupri :: Metalix

Brilliant modern jazz

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 08/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On this, his fifth recording as leader, Matthias Lupri continues his daring exploration of the limits of the jazz soundscape so winningly assayed on his last disc, Transition Sonic.



Although I hear a number of analogs to this music, including Billy Hart's two marvelous mid-nineties discs, Amethyst and Oceans of Time, Khan Jamal's remarkable Don't Take No from 1989 (recently reissued as Peaceful Warrior), Santi DeBriano's Soldiers of Fortune, Nguyen Le's remarkable Zanzibar, Robyn Kenyatta's Ghost Stories, Karl Berger's No Man Is an Island, Mark Shim's Turbulent Flow, Stefon Harris's Grand Unification Theory, and, especially, Heinrich von Kalnein's unheard but fabulous Perfect World, Metalix takes the sounds and conceptions found on these fine discs several steps further. What they all have in common is a certain conception that might be called "jazz fusion," so long as the term is not taken as a synonym for smooth jazz. What it really sounds like to me, though, is a more accessible Claudia Quintet.



The origins for such music are probably groups like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, and Return to Forever. None of those groups, however, was vibes-based, so the comparison goes only so far. As a vibest, Lupri reminds me most Khan Jamal, the iconoclastic Philly warrior. He also seems to have a little of Morten Gronvad (the vibest on Ghost Stories) in him, and even, perhaps, a soupcon of Gust William Tsilis, and some Matt Moran (of the Claudia Quintet), especially in his willingness to mess with the typical vibes sound and concept.



Lupri's band smokes. He was wise to retain the rhythm section from Transition Sonic--relative unknowns Thomas Kneeland, acoustic bass and electronics, and Jordan Parlson, drums. These guys have really honed their chops since their last disc, and Parlson, especially, sounds like a real monster with moves reminiscent of some of the finest drummers on the scene like Eric Harland, Ari Hoenig, Terreon Gulley, and Jeff Ballard. Donny McCaslin, fully coming into his own with his great outing Soaring and a firm place in Dave Douglas's current band, is fast becoming the go-to jazz tenor and soprano player, and he also unleashes some very winsome alto flute. Myron Walden on alto sax and soprano sax and bass clarinet, a name I haven't encountered for nearly a decade when he was billed as the Next Big Thing, proves a wonderful ensemble player and takes several incisive solos. Nate Radley, also back from Transition Sonic, displays a very fluid guitar style suggestive of Peter Bernstein or Kurt Rosenwinkel, has chops to burn (very lightly worn), and contributes a kind of spacy elegiac vibe to the aural conception.



The songs, all penned by Lupri, form a kind of extended suite clocking in at over 70 minutes. They feature tricky time signatures, odd rhythmic conceptions, gorgeous melodies, and adventurous harmonies, all the while being entirely accessible--quite a feat.



If you want to hear the future of jazz wrapped in an absolutely engaging package look no farther than Metalix. Fast becoming one of my all-time favorite jazz discs."