once they swim and swirl through you,
you're changed forever.
KOI is the latest solo album from bassist and guitarist Lorenzo Feliciati. He is joined by Alessandro Gwis (keyboards) and Steve Jansen (drums and percussion). Other contributors include Pat Mastelotto (drums), Angelo Olivieri (trumpet), Nicola Alesini (sax), Stan Adams (trombone), Pierluigi Bastioli (trombone), and Duilio Ingrosso (sax).
The twelve tracks on the album are Kohaku, New House, Kumonryu , Oxbow, Black Kumonryu, Noir Alley Verdigris, Ogon, Narada, Margata, Kuchibeni, Fish Bowl, and Koi. Several of the titles represent varieties of koi so there's an obvious theme here. According to legend, koi are fish admired for their beauty. Anyone who gazes at them achieves a special state of mind.
KOI is one of three albums I'm currently listening to (a lot) that feature a common thread: Pat Mastelotto contributed to all of them, to lesser and greater degrees. While I've stopped trying to classify the music I listen to, let's say that all three of these albums are "progressive fusion" meaning they're a forward-looking blend of rock, jazz, ambient and other styles (poly-genre?). It's the differing degrees of each sub-genre that make of these three albums special.
KOI's fusion leans toward the jazz side and that's not just because of the instrumentation. This is a precise, crisp, highly refined performance with beautiful melodies and discordant tones, smooth rhythms and oddly layered time signatures. The constant for me is Feliciati's bass, the subsurface koi swimming through this sonic pond.
You can get an idea of what's on KOI from the video teaser.
Feliciati's website is www.lorenzofeliciati.com. KOI is available on Rare Noise Records.
"I don't know much about music, but I sure like the sound it makes."
I received no compensation of any kind for this review.
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