Bruford Levin Upper Extremities [Import]

Track Listings

1. Cerulean Sea

2. Original Sin

3. Etude Revisited

4. A Place Of Pearls(On A Blade Of Grass)

5. Fin De Siecle

6. DrumBass

7. Cracking The Midnight Glass

8. Torn DrumBass

9. Thick With Thin Air

10. Cobalt Canyons

11. Deeper Blue

12. Presidents Day

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Japanese edition of 1998 collaborative outing by these two prog legends that recently worked together as the rhythm section on King Crimson's last album. Assisted by trumpeter Chris Botti & guitarist David Torn, the 56 minute release features 12 tracks pressed on a full color picture disc & comes packaged in a double gatefold slipcase. 1998 Papa BearRecords release. The full title is 'Bruford Levin Upper Extremities'.

Bruford Levin Upper Extremities,Bruford,Levin,Pid

Tracks:

Cerulean Sea
Original Sin
Etude Revisited
A Place Of Pearls(On A Blade Of Grass)
Fin De Siecle
DrumBass
Cracking The Midnight Glass
Torn DrumBass
Thick With Thin Air
Cobalt Canyons
Deeper Blue
Presidents Day

Album Description

Japanese edition of 1998 collaborative outing by these two prog legends that recently worked together as the rhythm section on King Crimson's last album. Assisted by trumpeter Chris Botti & guitarist David Torn, the 56 minute release features 12 tracks pressed on a full color picture disc & comes packaged in a double gatefold slipcase. 1998 Papa BearRecords release. The full title is 'Bruford Levin Upper Extremities'.

Customer Reviews:

Good Collaborative Stuff.......2004-12-15

This is not just some vanity project (though due to the other players' tendancies for minmalism, it's an excellent opportunity to focus on Tony Levin's bass playing) or a blowing session. These guys worked together as a unit and clearly tried to develop some new exciting music.

They definitely succeeded, to my ears. The tracks span and sometimes transcend several genres and subgenres of music. To my ears the latter third of the album goes a bit flat, but the first two thirds of it is wonderful stuff, and with each track rather different from the last. If you like music, you'll probably enjoy it. There's a lot of integrity here.

Blue nights for a blue quartet.......2000-05-19

I saw these guys live and must say that this may be the finest moment to date of Bruford and Tony Levin. Bill Bruford's drumming was absolutely SICK and Levin was just so professional and soulful that it just wasn't real. The show prompted me to get the disc they were selling at the show and it was just as good as the live experience. Chris Botti was ultracool, with some Miles davis-like trumpet, and guitarist David Torn has some interesting textures and loops. What they played at the show is all here on the disc, and if you're into avante-jazz or King Crimson, you simply cannot pass this one up. These guys are incredible musicians, and since Bruford & Levin are no longer in Crimso, perhaps they should be doing more of this stuff. This isn't mindless noodling, but solid avante-jazz. Smart musicianship which doesn't bore. I won't go into the individual titles, it's all well executed. If you did dig this album, go to Tony Levin's website and order the double live disc of the shows too. That's another killer.

I love it.......1999-09-02

B.L.U.E is one of the better albums that I heard lately. Chris Botti reminds me Miles Davis at his best, David Torn is a wonderful guitarist, and a leader on the avant-garde, and Tony Levin and Bill Bruford are amazing (Bruford plays a lot of polyrithms here). I love Tony Levin, he's one of the best bass players, but please, Mr. Torn, give us the pleasure of listen playing together Bill Bruford and Mick Karn!

Bitches Brew meets Red..........1999-01-08

This album comprises a wide mixture of approaches and styles. While Bruford has acted in the past as the adhesive element, he now tests further the distinction between melody and rhythm as a product of the drum kit. The band is, however, first and foremost a concert band. Do yourself a tremendous justice by tracking them down, and becoming an actual part of the musical experience. The CD lacks the complexity as well as the coherence the band has been able to achieve while playing live.

Tracks:

Piercing Glances
Etude Revisited
Palace of Pearls (On a Blade of Grass)
Original Sin - Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, , Tony Levin
Dentures of the Gods
Deeper Blue
Cobalt Canyons
Fin de Siecle
Picnic on Vesuvius
Cerulean Sea
Bent Taqasim/Torn Drumbass
Cracking the Midnight Glass
Presidents Day
3 Minutes of Pure Entertainment
Outer Blue

Album Description

UK version with one bonus track, 'Outer Blue' (Remix by Splattercell) and $12 cheaper. It features the thundering rhythm section of King Crimson fame, Bill Bruford and Tony Levin. Recorded live in Japan and the USA in 1998. They expand on their studio album with extended live versions and new compositions. 15 tracks in all.

Customer Reviews:

Never imagined I wouldn't like a Bruford CD.......2005-03-24

As a big fan of Bruford (Earthworks, Crimson, Yes, UK, Bruford) and Levin (Crimson, Gabriel, Lennon, Liquid Tension Experiment, Bozzio Levin Stevens) I figured that a live double disc with this awesome rhythm section would be stellar... how wrong I was. This music is nothing like the ensembles mentioned above; it is very weird avant-garde improvisational jazz. Not that there is anything wrong with that... if you like Mingus, Dolphy, and Coleman there may be quite a bit to enjoy, and maybe I just can't appreciate this style of music.

I have listened to this at least twenty times; therefore, this is not my initial reaction to this disc... for me there is nothing enjoyable on this CD. I would recommend any of Bruford's work mentioned above, but pass on this unless you're a fan of this type of music.

King Crimson Projekts meets Miles Davis.......2004-11-06

This is a 2 CD set taken from live club shows in 1998. The sound is very good and there is very little audience noise. It sounds like the audiences were very small, like the concerts were done in half filled clubs. The first disc is 48 minutes and the second disc is 58 minutes with the addition of a bonus track from the original release. The packaging is fairly cheap looking.

This is jazz fusion. Some of it is discordant, especially the opening track. Mostly the music is lively, entertaining but very rough and hard. It is along the lines of what King Crimson was doing at the time, only more accessible. With Chris Botti playing on trumpet, much of the music sounds like a harder version of Miles Davis.

This band came together right after King Crimson was in it's "Projecks" and "Thrak" stages. Both Bill Bruford and Tony Levin were in King Crimson at the time. King Crimson was a sextet at the time and doing all kinds of experimentation with different combinations of the members of the band. They put out a number of CD's where any "C" in the title was replaced with a "K". The music was hard and metallic. Much of it was pure noise with members of the group just going off in any direction. Some of it was very interesting.

I think that Bruford and Levin take all that experimentation with King Crimson and evolve it into something much better. David Torn on guitar sounds like Robert Fripp under control. And the trumpet really adds a new dimension to the music.

Levin is always a very interesting artist. Another album to check out is his Double Espresso, which is more traditional fusion and new wave jazz. I think his best album (besides the 1980's King Crimson material) is Levin, Bozzio, Stevens Blacklight Syndrome. That is a CD to search out and cherish.

Fantástico.......2002-09-23

Fantástico. No se puede decir otra cosa de este CD. Este disco es lo mejor que he oído en el campo del Jazz eléctrico desde el Pangea de Miles Davis (allá por 1975). Es dificil destacar a alguno de los cuatro miembros del grupo, pero la combinación del sonido típico del King Crimson instrumental de finales de los 90 con la trompeta cool de Botti es genial. Desde luego, por mucho que digan, éste último no es Davis (hasta ahí podríamos llegar), pero su papel tampoco es el de liderar este grupo, por lo que su aportación es más que correcta.

A New Standard for Fusion.......2000-09-26

On this record, these guys find new ways to expand the consciousness of the listener. The combination of the poly-metric blending of time signitures between the bass/stick and drums, the weird and sometimes eerie Tornian soundscapes, and the lonely Miles inspired trumpet takes fusion somewhere I've never heard it go. While the studio record they did was interesting, this record is visceral and alive and at times totally breathtaking. I want to be in this band.

live of B.L.U.E.......2000-06-21

So to speak, it's a double live version of B.L.U.E. Including some other & a bonus track, of course. As for me, I'm fond of studio version more rather than this live one. But it's great that some tracks from studio are extended for live play. & some tracks are improvs or jams. Higly recommended for guys & girls who like each or at least one of Bill Bruford,Tony Levin and David Torn. These three good performers gathered once before at Torn's excellent work "Cloud about mercury". Though I haven't experienced any other Chris Botti, he is good especially at "Original Sin". By the way, Torn doesn't play impressively in this project to me.

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