"Taming the Dragon" - Mehliana's Debut Album

After several recent tours around the U.S. and Europe, the musical duo of keyboardist Brad Mehldau and drummer Mark Guiliana, aka "Mehliana", have at long last released and album of their improvisational and inspiring music. Their debut effort is entitled, "Taming the Dragon", a collection of some of their best forays that will be familiar to fans of their live shows, as well as some material not heard or seen live. Mehliana's use of vintage synthesizers, and their incredible grasp of both jazz and modern electronica is a joy to witness live, (They performed at both SF Jazz and the Independant recently); happily, their new album captures those moments and more.

Released on the Nonesuch Record label, Taming the Dragon's origins were revealed, "Mehldau and Guiliana have been performing for several years, with Mehldau playing Fender Rhodes and synthesizers and Guiliana on drums and effects, as they are on the record. Mehliana comprises 12 original tunes—six written by the duo and six written by Mehldau—and was engineered and mixed by Greg Koller (Jon Brion, Kanye West). The vinyl edition of the album, due March 18, includes two 140-gram LPs pressed at Pallas MFG in Diepholz, Germany, and a CD of the album."

The reviews so far have been favorable: "Mehliana: Taming the Dragon is "astonishing," exclaims Jazzwise magazine, "one of the best albums of 2014." Mehliana earned four stars from the Guardian and from MusicOMH, which calls the album "wholly absorbing, as Mehldau’s playfulness and Guiliana’s taut, interwoven grooves create an inescapable tension. Pieces such as the delightful, slow building 'Hungry Ghost even seem to draw from the approaches of post rock acts such as Sigur Rós or Tortoise." The album, concludes MusicOMH reviewer Daniel Paton, offers "an intuitive, compelling dialogue between the two musicians, and between the musicians and their machines..." "Ranging from lush dreamscapes to febrile urban funk workouts," says MOJO, "the album resonates like an imaginary '80s film score..."

Having seen and heard Mehliana both live and online, I was extremely pleased to see some of my favorite pieces from those live performances appear on the album; the haunting "Elegy for Amelia Earhardt"; "London Gloaming", (Mehldau would often quote John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" live on this tune); the rollicking "Sassyassed Sassafrass", "Just call me Nige", and "Sleeping Giant"; "Swimming", a great tune where Guiliana is in his percussive element; and perhaps my favorite, "Hungry Ghost", a beautifully eerie vamp that both grooves you and rattles your chains. Those tunes were incredible live and sound simply fantastic on this recording.

There are other interesting tunes on the album as well; "Taming the Dragon", the spoken word piece title piece, conjured memories of Adrian Belew's dialogue in King Crimson's "Thela Hun Jingeet"; and "Luxe", a pierce borne from an improvisational idea right before their performance in Luxenbourg.

I have been a huge fan of the great keyboard and drum duo's; from the world music of the late, great Joe Zawinul and Trilok Gurtu; Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford, (who incidentally considered Guiliana one of the most refreshing drummers he'd heard in years); and Marco Benevento and Joe Russo's "Duo". Mehliana is the real deal, and "Taming the Dragon" is a worthy addition to the pantheon of those previous men.

The Music of "OoN"

Two of the Bay Area's best musicians have joined forces in a most fabulous duet, quite unlike any I have ever heard. A fantastic bassoonist, Paul Hanson first came to my attention while touring with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and performing alongside the legendary Paul McCandless of Oregon and saxophonist Jeff Coffin; their work as a trio simply had to be seen to be believed. No one plays the bassoon like Hanson; his dexterity and marvelous use of effects was nothing short of brilliant. Bassist Ariane Cap is of course no stranger to this writer; as she's honed her skills at the elbows of such bass luminaries as the virtuoso Victor Wooten of the aforementioned Flecktones, the incomparable Kai Eckhardt, and one of the founders of the Bay Area's solo bass scene, the one and only Michael Manring. Together, Hanson and Cap have created the duo known as "OoN, a unique blend of fresh sounds at times meditative and peaceful at times passionate, raging and distorted; always groovy always melodic…" Their new album, "Polaris" is an amazing romp that defies categorization, and is guaranteed to both soothe and groove you.

OoN's website states that "People often say they don't know what to expect from a bass and bassoon duo. Well, think melodic and groovy music. OoN with its unlikely combination of bass and bassoon creates beautiful melodic Chamber Jazz. Sometimes peaceful and meditative, at other times passionate, raging or groovy, the musical bandwidth these two instrumentalists cover on their respective 'tools' is surprising. Utilizing virtuosic and unusual playing techniques as well as effects and harmonizers, the musicians put the song first and musicality front and center.

When Hanson and Cap met they found they had a lot in common: both had just returned from tours from outside the country and found themselves in new and unexpected life situations. They got together initially to 'just jam' but were immediately struck by the compatibility of their instruments as well as their similar approaches to playing. Both fans of unusual playing techniques and the use of effects they were both at home taking on various responsibilities of playing, be it accompanying, grooving, soloing or playing melodies. More than anything, however, they found kinship in loving a wide variety of styles of music, from Classical to Jazz, to Rock, Pop, Funk, and Fusion, and for being most concerned with beautiful melodies and accessible and moving grooves. On Polaris, the two do many of their own compositions, but also a Beatles cover and their favorite Jazz standard. They even go on some Jimi Hendrix infused adventures. A fresh and exciting sound that will delight, entertain and uplift you, make sure to expect the unexpected.

As a bassoonist over the last 20 years, Paul has been one of a select few setting new standards for what is possible on this most classical of woodwind instruments. As one reviewer puts it, “But he simply transcends technique to a point where the listener no longer has in mind that it’s a BASSOON that he’s playing.” From his roots as an award-winning classical bassoonist and jazz saxophonist-Paul has enjoyed a truly diverse musical career.

As an improvising bassoonist, Paul has recorded and/or performed with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Wayne Shorter, Peter Erskine, Cirque Du Soleil, David Binney, Dennis Chambers, Zenith Patrol, Billy Childs, Billy Higgins, Ray Charles, Charlie Hunter, Patrice Rushen, Alex Acuna, Abraham Laboriel, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bob Weir’s RATDOG, T. Lavitz from Dixie Dregs, Jeff Coffin, Jeff Sipe, Jonas Hellborg, Afro/Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, Bob Moses, Kai Eckhardt. Paul has lent his bassoon playing to The Klezmorim, St. Josephs Ballet, soloist with Napa Symphony, jazz bassoon soloist with Oakland East Bay Symphony, DAVKA.

As a saxophonist, Hanson has recorded and/or performed with Eddie Money (tenor sax soloist on the 1985 hit song “Take Me Home Tonight”), Boz Scagg, The Temptations, Tower of Power, Steve Smith, Tom Coster, Randy Jackson (pre-American Idol), What It Is, Omar Sosa, dobroist Rob Ickes, Bobby Blue Bland and others.

Cap is an Austrian multi instrumentalist, composer, music educator and bassist (upright, electric, fretless, mini bass), pianist, vocalist and flutist. She has turned out compositions for Karney Music and Sound, Somatone and Wolftrack audio, regularly teaches at the Berkeley Jazz School, The Wyoming Rock Camp Experience (10 years in residence), the Berkeley Jazz Workshop and her own Music School, Step Up Music.

Performing credits include the Celtic Rock Band Tempest, The Kid-punk rock band The Sippy Cups, the African Band The Palmwine Boys, the Guitar Virtuoso Muriel Anderson, the Austrian funk band The Mozart Band and Cirque du Soleil as well as many local Jazz, Wold and Rock/Funk artists. Recently Ariane recorded for star producer Keith Olsen. Current bands include Lara Price's Girls Got the Blues, an all-star female cast of Bay Area musicians including Janice Maxie-Reid, Pam Hawkins and Annie Sampson, as well as the platinum winning band Generation Esmeralda with Jimmy Goings, who she recently toured Brazil with. Cap is also working on a series of books and educational materials (audio and video) to bring her bass and music theory methods to a wider audience.

Here is a video of one of their most recent performances at Berkeley's Frieght & Salvage.