Gary Willis, Larger Than Life “A delicious collection of fusion-funk for the twenty-first century.” Joining me on this set of twelve tracks are Gergo Borlai on drums, Scott Kinsey on keyboards, Steve Tavaglione on saxes and EWI, Claudia Bardagí on voice and Llibert Fortuny on tenor sax.

Superhero

2Fast

Vendetta

Alien Head Explodes

Beast Mode

Solaris

Hipster

Source Code

Say It Ain't So

Larger Than Life

Everything's Cool

The Professionals

On “X”, the members of Tribal Tech, Scott Henderson, Gary Willis, Scott Kinsey and Kirk Covington once again throw convention out the window, entering the studio without a set list of heavy arrangements. Instead each member brought musical sketches to the table and they turned on the tape machines and bravely set out to play together as a unit.

Scott Henderson, bassist Gary Willis, keyboardist Scott Kinsey and drummer Kirk Covington are each critically acclaimed on their instruments, culminating in a sound that is uniquely their own. As well, each artist keeps busy working on their own individual musical projects.

Tribal Tech have delivered perhaps the most phenomenal recording of their impressive 25+ year history as a band. This album embraces the group dynamic. Only when you have a rich band history forged by virtuoso musicians, can you achieve the kind of synergistic genius that Tribal Tech reach on “X”.

06 Gravity

07 Working Blue

One of the most formidable fretless electric bassists in the post-Jaco Pastorius era, Texas native and current Barcelona resident Gary Willis joins forces with Catalan keyboardist Albert Bover and Budapest-born drummer Gergo Borlai on this exhilarating take on the electric piano trio. Co-founder (with guitarist Scott Henderson) of the premiere fusion band Tribal Tech and former member of Wayne Shorter’s band, Willis and his highly interactive crew shift deftly from slamming funk (“Old School”) to percolating fusion (“Disconnectivity”) to aggressive swingers (“Change Agent,” ”Move”) while embracing quiet ballads (Paul McCandless’ “Amaryllis,” Milton Nascimento’s evocative “Tarde” or Willis’ aptly-titled “Dream”) with uncommon sensitivity and a lyrical touch. They also turn in expressive interpretations of the Lennon-McCartney classic “Norwegian Wood” and Bill Evans’ “We Will Meet Again.” And the album closes on a poignant note with Willis’ tasty, subtly reharmonized rendition of the Depression era standard “For All We Know,” a tune famously covered by the likes of Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone and Donny Hathaway.

Says the great bassist of his impressive sidemen on Retro: “Gergo is an incredible drummer. I had done some playing with him in Budapest, and since he moved to Barcelona Albert and I have been able to work up some nice chemistry as a trio with him.
This new record is about us playing together. It’s not about big productions or anything, it’s just Rhodes, bass and drums. It’s a totally different direction from what I did last time (on 2007’s Actual Fiction, also on Abstract Logix). It shows what can happen when you just make it about the interpretation of the material and how we play together. And for that reason it’s maybe more personal than anything I’ve done before.”

From the modal opener “Change Agent” to the bubbling “Old School” (which recalls the old school funk-fusion of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters) to the atmospheric “Tarde,” these three kindred spirits demonstrate a remarkable capacity to groove in loose-tight fashion throughout Retro. They collective burn through a labyrinth of chord changes on the uptempo romp “Move,” which is fueled by Willis’ urgent walking bass lines, and settle into on mellow accord on Oregon’s floating “Amaryllis” and a chill 3/4 take on the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.” Bover proves to be both a consummate accompanist and accomplished soloist from track to track while Borlai’s crisp, polyrhythmic pulse and supple brushwork fuel the proceedings. Willis’ virtuosic solo contributions here, particularly on “Disconnectivity” and “Move,” show why he is regarded as one of the most outstanding bassists on the scene today.

“I just wanted to feature the fun of playing together and the expression that comes out in this stripped-down setting,” says Willis of his fifth album as a leader overall and second for Abstract Logix. “Whatever direction it’s going, we’re going to try to get into it pretty deep.”  They’ve succeeded in brilliant fashion on Retro.

 

01 Change Agent

02 Amaryllis

03 Disconnectivity

04 Norwegian Wood

05 Old School

06 Dream

07 Move

One of the most formidable fretless electric bassists in the post-Jaco Pastorius era, Texas native and current Barcelona resident Gary Willis joins forces with Catalan keyboardist Albert Bover and Budapest-born drummer Gergo Borlai on this exhilarating take on the electric piano trio. Co-founder (with guitarist Scott Henderson) of the premiere fusion band Tribal Tech and former member of Wayne Shorter’s band, Willis and his highly interactive crew shift deftly from slamming funk (“Old School”) to percolating fusion (“Disconnectivity”) to aggressive swingers (“Change Agent,” ”Move”) while embracing quiet ballads (Paul McCandless’ “Amaryllis,” Milton Nascimento’s evocative “Tarde” or Willis’ aptly-titled “Dream”) with uncommon sensitivity and a lyrical touch. They also turn in expressive interpretations of the Lennon-McCartney classic “Norwegian Wood” and Bill Evans’ “We Will Meet Again.” And the album closes on a poignant note with Willis’ tasty, subtly reharmonized rendition of the Depression era standard “For All We Know,” a tune famously covered by the likes of Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone and Donny Hathaway.

Says the great bassist of his impressive sidemen on Retro: “Gergo is an incredible drummer. I had done some playing with him in Budapest, and since he moved to Barcelona Albert and I have been able to work up some nice chemistry as a trio with him.
This new record is about us playing together. It’s not about big productions or anything, it’s just Rhodes, bass and drums. It’s a totally different direction from what I did last time (on 2007’s Actual Fiction, also on Abstract Logix). It shows what can happen when you just make it about the interpretation of the material and how we play together. And for that reason it’s maybe more personal than anything I’ve done before.”

From the modal opener “Change Agent” to the bubbling “Old School” (which recalls the old school funk-fusion of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters) to the atmospheric “Tarde,” these three kindred spirits demonstrate a remarkable capacity to groove in loose-tight fashion throughout Retro. They collective burn through a labyrinth of chord changes on the uptempo romp “Move,” which is fueled by Willis’ urgent walking bass lines, and settle into on mellow accord on Oregon’s floating “Amaryllis” and a chill 3/4 take on the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.” Bover proves to be both a consummate accompanist and accomplished soloist from track to track while Borlai’s crisp, polyrhythmic pulse and supple brushwork fuel the proceedings. Willis’ virtuosic solo contributions here, particularly on “Disconnectivity” and “Move,” show why he is regarded as one of the most outstanding bassists on the scene today.

“I just wanted to feature the fun of playing together and the expression that comes out in this stripped-down setting,” says Willis of his fifth album as a leader overall and second for Abstract Logix. “Whatever direction it’s going, we’re going to try to get into it pretty deep.”  They’ve succeeded in brilliant fashion on Retro.

08 Tarde

09 We Will Meet Again

10 For All We Know

Gary Willis

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