Following in the footsteps of his mould-breaking An American Diary (reviewed November 1995), the cleverly titled Man Behind Bars gives us more of the new, sensitive Mike Mainieri, the style typified by the opening track, a delicately hammered slow samba reading of Wayne Shorter’s ESP. Mike plays all the instruments on the record, overdubbing to create an ensemble sound. Very occasionally this gives a hint of 4-track bedroom production, the rhythm a little stiff and the sound lacking a certain depth, but the concept and musicianship are excellent.
A well-disguised All The Things You Are epitomises Mainieri’s resourcefulness, but the most invigorating track, and the one with the best jazz solo, is Satyr Dance, a hip-hop driven modal groove which may bear some relationship to Mainieri’s old sixties group, Jeremy And The Satyrs. However, even that is relatively lyrical in aspect and combines with the more obviously poetic tracks to create a stimulating new perspective on one of today’s leading exponents of tuned percussion. Mark Gilbert
Discography
ESP; Trinary Motion; Push-Pull; Equinox; Satyr Dance; Momento No. 1; The Nearness Of You; Momento No. 2; All The Things You Are; Binary Motion (50.32)
Mike Mainieri (vibraphone, concert marimba, bass marimba, xylophone, chimes, percussion, midi vibes, piano, drums). Unknown location (s), c.1995.
(NYC 6019 2)