Anomaly (Abstract Logix, 2011)
Drummer Lenny White is a legendary name in jazz fusion. He has played with some of the best and most innovative musicians in the field. He was a member of Return to Forever and has performed with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke. Anomaly is his first solo album in 10 years and above all it is a master lesson in jazz and rock drumming.
The majority of the album contains jazz-rock in various forms. The Return to Forever essence is evident in several pieces, with guitar nods to Al Di Meola and Chick Corea-inspired keyboards. Although White rocks out in various parts of the album with turbo charged beats, he also ventures into funk jazz.
Contemporary jazz has been hijacked by easy listening melodies and Lenny White does not believe in wimpy music. I’ve been very critical of some of the current progressive rock groups who dumb down their music with heavy metal riffs to make their sound more powerful. Lenny White’s guest guitarists show you how you can deliver dazzling and blistering electric work that is creative and energetic at the same time. Guitar players include Nick Moroch (a former member of White’s Astral Pirates), David Gilmore, Tom Guarna and David Bendeth. On keyboards we find some of the best players: George Colligan, Bernard Wright, Donald Blackman (another Astral Pirate) and Vince Evans. Bassists featured include the legendary Return to Forever maestro Stanley Clarke as well as a new generation of top of ther line players: Victor Bailey, Richie Goods, and Charles Fambrough.
Anomaly is a phenomenal album of gripping jazz-rock fusion by Lenny White, one of the great jazz drum maestros of our time, accompanied by some of the hottest musicians in the fusion genre.
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