| Title - ‘MJ12’ Artist - MJ12 With a star-studded musical legacy behind him, those not in the immediate know about MJ12‘sPercy Jones can be forgiven - for now! Jones, born near Llandrindod Wells in Wales, is (obviously) a Welsh bass guitarist, and was a member of jazz fusion band Brand X from 1974 to 1980. He was also a member of a NYC trio called Stone Tiger (featuring guitarist Bill Frisell and drummers Mike Clark and Dougie Bowne during different periods) in 1982/83, and a reformed version of Brand X (which lasted from 1992 to 1999). Residing in New York, he currently is a member of MJ12, an instrumental group based in NYC. And so now bass legend Percy Jones, via his brilliant band collaboration MJ12, have just released their eagerly awaited debut album on Gonzo Multimedia UK this past June 24th, 2016. Recorded in the summer of 2015 at Shelter Island studios in Manhattan, MJ12 is jazz/fusion/prog music at its finest. Featuring virtuosic performances by all four band members (Jones, drummer/trombonist Stephen Moses, guitarist Dave Phelps, and saxophonist Chris Bacas), in many ways this album is an extension of what Percy Jones created with Brand X! 1) "Call 911" 2) "Bad American Dream Pt2" 3) "Magic Mist" 4) "Talk Time" 5) "The Wow Signal" 6) "Big Daddy Road" 7) "The Phantom Maracas" 8) "Guns And Pussy" 9) "Magic Mist Reprise" Having taken their band name from Majestik 12, which was supposedly a group of 12 scientists and engineers assembled in the late 40's to investigate UFO's, MJ12’s debut album is just as good, just as vibrant as you could have ever hoped it to have been. Indeed, as Jones himself has said about the albums creation, “We started writing stuff, but keeping a lot of the improv thing going to keep it spontaneous. The end result was bits and pieces of ideas coming from everybody that were all tied together to try and make a coherent tune, but with lots of blowing inside.” As for MJ12 as an overall soundscape, well, the uniqueness of Jones’ approach, particularly with his Brand X connection, let alone his contributions to Brian Eno's Another Green World and Before and After Science LPs of the 1970s, cast a long shadow here - and all for the right reasons. So, anybody who loves what Jones has done in the past will not only hear moments of that here, but will also find mighty big steps within his own personal evolution also. In keeping with his want to follow on from stuff he’s done in the past, whilst also trying to keep the music unpredictable, interesting and moving in a new direction, Jones has, without a shadow of a doubt, succeeded - and then some! www.percyjones.net |
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
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