BB DAVIS - drums, flute, percussion, beatvox/voice.
DAN BIRO – keyboards, vibraphonica/electronica.
MARK SMITH - bass.
TOURING BAND
BB DAVIS - drums. flute, percussion, beatvox/voice.
DAN BIRO - keyboards, vibraphonica/electronica.
VINCENZO LAMAGNA - guitar.
MATT SOWERBY - bass.
US DISTRIBUTION BY:
www.waysidemusic.com
Influences
From Herbie H, Chick C, Zawinul, Miles, to Roland Kirk, Hendrix, Focus, Lifetime, Mahavishnu, Weather Report, Doors, Zep, sonic fusioned, neo-classicism and retro-psychedelica all dished up in a sweaty, heady brew
of heavily jazzified, passionate, funked up, blissed-out, head-on grooves
with a whole dash a' finesse n' panache.
MYSTERIES OF THE REVOLUTION was formed out of the rhythmic core of BB DAVIS' (“Oscar Wilde on acid” - Time Out) RED ORCHIDSTRA - whose live, outrageous appearances are legendary and whose version of Roy Budd's theme from the '71 Brit gangster movie "Get Carter" has become a groove classic.
The platform for this outfit was for BB with long time musical associate DAN BIRO to found Hole In The Wall Music/Productions and the label BLUE SERENE FOCUS. MOTR's eponymous debut album on the BSF label demonstrates its heavily jazzified/world/bigbeat/neo-psychedelica
influences which are wide and varied and reflect MOTR's overall sound.
CD AVAILABLE FROM: HMV - Wayside Music - iTunes - CD Baby - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon MP3 - Abstract Logix - Napster - Synphonic
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM OUR STORE: www.mysteriesoftherevolution.com
Thankfully, fusion is no longer the dirty word it has been since the neoconservative jazz movement 1980s ended its 1970s glory days. Consequently, being influenced by artists like Weather Report, 1970s Miles Davis and Head Hunters-era Herbie Hancock is no longer a dirty secret--or a guilty pleasure.
Mysteries of the Revolution--formed from of the core of British composer/multi-instrumentalist BB Davis' Red Orchidstra--possesses elements of all these and more, but its trippy self-titled debut also fits comfortably alongside the contemporary semi-psychedelia jamming of groups like Benevento/Russo duo and Medeski, Martin & Wood.
It's also not a sin to reference progressive rock anymore and, for all its jazz-centric references, Mysteries of the Revolution is also a descendent of groups like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but with the egos checked at the door. Keyboardist Dan Biro fires up a tasty B3 (or very reasonable facsimile) on the high velocity "The Crunch" and, while it may not possess the pure bombast of ELP (and drummer Davis has the unshakably good sense of time that Carl Palmer never did), he's also more capable of soloing interactively with his band mates during the viscerally slow funk of the song's middle section, bolstered by Mark Smith's deep, greasy bass lines.
Biro's orchestral synths and Smith's dominant fretless bass give "Storius Sensorius" a Weather Report vibe, but as clearly composed as it is, there's a looser jamband feel, especially when Davis and Smith kick into double time for a Rhodes-like solo from Biro that finds rapid-fire lines flitting across the stereo field while, at the same time, becoming increasingly processed sonically. "The Elevation of Mr Handy" suggests that Mysteries of the Revolution has also spent some serious time listening to Canterbury groups like Hatfield and the North, Caravan and Soft Machine.
But for all its undeniable influences, Mysteries of the Revolution occupies its own space, somewhere in the nooks and crannies between all these references. The beauty of fusion's heyday was that it wasn't out of the ordinary to find progressive acts sharing the bill with fusion acts--Return to Forever's Romantic Warrior (Legacy, 1976) was, after all, an album heavily influenced by progressive rock groups like Yes, and one looking for the nexus of jazz and rock weighted more towards the rock side.
If the difference between Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters and ELP was that one approached rock from a primary position of jazz, while the other occasionally entered into jazz-like territory from a fundamentally rock place,
Mysteries of the Revolution seems less singularly disposed to either position. Instead, tracks like "Big Buddah" find a way to mesh ambient music, electronica, world music and Beatvox with a vibrant tribute to the late Rahsaan Roland Kirk, featuring a really stunning in tandem flute and bass solo by Davis and Smith.
Mysteries of the Revolution may largely favor groove, but it's equally capable of lyrical elegance. "Have You Seen Enough?" is a tender ballad, featuring Smith's bass as the initial melodic lead that leads into a delicate electric piano solo from Biro. But as is the case with most of Mysteries of the Revolution's longer tracks, it's an episodic composition that ultimately morphs into a more powerful, Mahavishnu Orchestra-like, arpeggio-driven end section that features another blues-tinged organ solo, building to--literally--thunderstorm intensity that settles down as it segues to the album's ethereal closer, "Evolution."
What exactly is this mysterious revolution? In the hands of Davis, Biro and Smith Mysteries of the Revolution is a unique combination of musical genres that avoids any trappings of excess, performed with aplomb by a trio that has nothing to prove but plenty to say.
Tracks: Welcome; The Crunch; Storius Sensorius; The Elevation of Mr Handy; Moonfrog's Tucker; Nico; Secret Fire; Romantica; Big Buddah; Have You Seen Enough?; Evolutuon.
How are you, Mysteries Of The Revolution? Haven't checked in on you lately, so I swung by to wish you a Happy Holiday season & hope you are feeling well! Listen, I have another track up on my page, "Attack Of The Mushroom People." You can Hear it right Now, if you'd like at: www.myspace.com/psychedelicpablo OK, that's it for the shameless self-promotion.Thanks for being a friend. adios for now! Pablo
Hey guys! Just few seconds to inform you that my new progressive- trance single Lost in Your Mind is out now on the main digital stores, iTunes and Amazon included. I invite you to listen it on my profile. It's welcome your feedback Cheers Francesco Ps: for more info and free music download, please visit also my page on Reverbnation at: www.reverbnation.com/the4thfloor
High Mysteries Of The Revolution! Pablo here, reporting in from Inner Space to wish you Happy February & a great 2009! (we interrupt this comment with a brief announcement: Pablo's first new album in 5 years,"Take Two," Is Here & Now! -16 tracks of sugar coated insanity-available on iTunes, CD Baby, etc.) - Stop by my page to hear 4 new songs! God bless!!! P (P.S. the new album is best appreciated on a higher plane....;))
Thanks for being our friend! Our debut "The Now And The Not Yet" is now available at Amazon and Emusic. We would love you forever if you would give it a listen. Thanks, m
Hi thanks for adding us as a friend. We have a new track on our MySpace profile "Yours" Live Version that will autoplay when you visit our page, If you have time we would love to know what you think. Best wishes CLING xx
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