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Altered states waxworks records1/29/2024 ![]() ![]() Jazz is also not off limits to drummer (and trumpeter) Yasuhiro, an ongoing member of anything-goes sonic experimentalist Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet and New Jazz Orchestra who appears on such albums as the NJO's 2005 Out to Lunch Eric Dolphy tribute. After a series of succesful avant rock releases during the '90s, at the close of the decade the band released an album of fractured interpretations of warhorses such as All the Things You Are, Someone to Watch Over Me and A Night in Tunisia titled Altered States Plays Standards, complete with retro '60s-styled cover art suggesting a classic release from the heyday of Blue Note or Riverside.Īs for "jazz" of more contemporary vintage, they collaborated with Brooklyn reedman and circular breather Ned Rothenberg in 19 Rothenberg is featured on Mosaic and on the 1996 Phenotype release Café 9.15. Vocals are a quite rare and can take the form of crazy gibberish ( Makigami Koichi on Mosaic) or agitated shouts over the top of high-voltage instrumental jamming ( 4).Īnd yet when it comes to technical chops, use of digital-era effects, telepathic interplay, use of wide dynamic ranges and interludes of space, and the building of tension, Altered States can be considered pretty skillful.Īlthough most appropriately classified as a rock band, Altered States have nonetheless never abandoned certain aspects of jazz, most certainly the genre's improvisational emphasis. It is often purely an improvisational group, although they are also known for arranged music on albums such as Mosaic (1995) and 6 (1997), as well as scored interludes within extended pieces (e.g, the third untitled track on 1996's 4) that take the listener by surprise it resembless King Crimson's music from the Starless and Bible Black era moved forward 20 years into the future and with two decades of musical advancement might be one way to perceive what the band is capable of accomplishing. The music draws from a wide range of influences including progressive rock, jazz-rock, psychedelia, metal, noise rock, electronica, funk, ambient, and even country music. In contrast, Altered States could never be accused of selling out to that particular crowd (as if they ever had a large jazz fan base from which to sell out to a larger rock fan base in the first place). Jazz purists would undoubtedly be repelled by the notion that jazz musicians could find rock a more productive avenue for musical expression, but perhaps Kazuhisa, Yasuhiro, and Mitsuru were merely following in the footsteps of, say, Miles Davis - although of course "true" jazz fans excoriated the legendary hornman for selling out to a commercial rock audience circa Bitches Brew. Guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi was in a jazz and improvisational group formed by drummer Yasuhiro Yoshigaki, and the two established Altered States with bassist Mitsuru Nasuno - they originally played in jazz clubs but apparently found the jazz genre an ill fit for their exploratory style, and therefore chose to pursue a more rock-oriented direction. A Japanese free / noise jazz / avant-prog trio.Īccording to the official source the band has been around since 1989, but some band biographies place the time and place of the group's inception as 1990 in Osaka. A dance music production trio from Manchester.ġ. A Japanese free / noise jazz / avant-prog group.ģ. There are many different artists called Altered States:ġ.
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