Occultus Tramitis (Antoine Fafard/Unicorn Digital UNCR 5087, 2013)
One of the best fusion releases of the year, Occultus Tramitis comes from Canada. It’s the second album by extraordinary bassist Antoine Fafard. He invited some of the finest musicians in the jazz-rock and fusion field to perform in Occultus Tramitis . Getting great musicians does not guarantee and equally good recording. However, in this case, the album works perfectly because Fafard is also an outstanding composer and gets the better of two worlds: superb musicianship and engaging structured pieces.
Electric violinist Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra) plays dazzling melodies in more than half of the pieces. It’s great to see Jerry Goodman in such great shape. He brings a fascinating modern Mahavishnu Orchestra vibe to the album. “Working on Antoine’s project was a real treat…his compositions and playing made it a unique experience,” says Jerry Goodman about Occultus Tramitis. “Both challenging and joyful at the same time! He put together a great team of players and I only wish we could have been playing in the same room!”
But Jerry Goodman is just one of the exceptional musicians featured on the album. Additional melodic work was provided by guitarists Scott Henderson (Tribal Tech) and Jerry De Villiers, saxophonist Jean-Pierre Zanella; and the three bassists, Antoine Fafard and his two guests bassists Sylvain Bolduc and Denis Labrosse.
Practically every piece features a different drummer and what a lineup! The dream team includes Terry Bozzio (UK, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa), Gavin Harrison (King Crimson, Porcupine Tree), , Simon Phillips (Jeff Beck, Toto), Chad Wackerman (Allan Holdsworth, Frank Zappa), Dave Weckl (Chick Corea, Mike Stern), Magella Cormier, Emmanuelle Caplette and Martin Maheux. “This is a really challenging piece,” says drummer Terry Bozzio about ‘Holding Back Time.’ “It was very subtle – it’s in eleven and it’s very sneaky… It is deceptively simple because it has an open, very flowing feel to the piece.”
In many reviews I name album highlights. This is very hard in this occasion as all the material is truly excellent. But if I had to choose favorites, I would say that all the pieces featuring Jerry Goodman’s out of this world violin really stand out, along with the bass fest featuring three bassists titled ‘Tree O’ and ‘Sum of Six,’ where we get to enjoy the wonderful work of some of the lesser known guests.
“I started to work on this CD in September 2011, right after the release of the ‘Solus Operandi’ album, and was still working on it in April 2013,” says Antoine. “I began to compose music with specific players in mind, hoping that they would eventually agree to participate. I guess that the players themselves were a great source of inspiration during the composition process. Interestingly, I wasn’t present during the recording sessions of any of the collaborators on this CD (all 15 of them). Each player on this album recorded their tracks in their home studios and all the songs were mixed in my home studio.”
Antoine Fafard’s recording career began with his jazz-rock band Spaced Out, who released their first album in 2000. By 2008 Spaced Out had recorded five studio albums: Spaced Out (2000), Eponymus II (2001), Slow Gin (2003), Unstable Matter (2006), Evolution (2008); one live album, Live at the Crescendo Festival (2007); and two DVDs: Live in 2000 (2005) and Live at the Crescendo Festival (2007).
In 2010, Antoine decided to begin recording under his own name, without the limitations of the band format. His first solo album, Solus Operandi, was released in August 2011.
“Antoine is a fantastic musician. It was a real joy to play on this CD,” says Chad Wackerman.