Cuneiform
2003
A Night For Baku
About This Album
All the clichés ever used about instrumental prog rock at its best would be appropriate here -- "soaring," "anthemic," "powerful," "gorgeous," "cosmic," and so on. In truth, the CD itself builds on such clichés, but that's good news for anyone who wants to revisit the glory days of the genre -- or find out why this type of music still has so many fans. The veteran Djam Karet quartet (here bolstered by a second bassist) is blessed with two superb electric guitarists who also double on analog and digital synths, theremin, and samplers and a percussionist who also doubles on synths. Their music has a sweeping, epic sound very much in the tradition of early King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (minus the vocals). Djam Karet has been together for a rather remarkable 20 years with the same personnel, while remaining essentially an underground, West Coast phenomenon. Early on, they were essentially a guitar-driven electric jam band in the mode of Ozric Tentacles or even a stripped-down Grateful Dead, but they have steadily evolved and grown over the years. On this CD, the group avoids jam-band tedium by breaking most of the nine tracks into sections, either alternating between fast and slow movements, or introducing a new melodic theme in the middle of a piece before eventually returning to the original melody or riff.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,5,6,7 and 9)

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