Vital Tech Tone 2
Complex, robust, full-bodied. Like a bold cabernet, the jazz-rock fusion that flows from the three lads in Vital Tech Tones is best appreciated by those with mature tastes and inquisitive natures. After an initial jolt to the senses, it gradually reveals subtle satisfactions that become more apparent after repeated samplings, persuading you over time that you have unearthed something deeply enjoyable. Fusion fans fond of music with a freestyle rock sensibility should be drawn to this inviting, hard-edged excursion into territory once explored by theMahavishnu Orchestra. Guitarist Scott Henderson (ofTribal Tech) sends showers of expressive, nonlinear chords raining down on the detailed rhythmic underpinnings supplied by drummer Steve Smith (ofVital Informationand, long ago,Journey) and bassistVictor Wooten(ofBela Fleckand the Flecktones). The results (all instrumental) are challenging, engrossing, a bit raw, not fully melodic, yet never so abstract that they become alienating. Without showboating, Henderson tinkers with textures that at times bring to mindJeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, and a youngAl Di Meola, all in an ever-shifting context that encourages sustained listening. Worthwhile.--Terry Wood