Bryan Beller - View (CD)
Long known as a uniquely talented yet tasteful hired gun bassist for the more adventurous rock guitarists of recent times (Mike Keneally, Steve Vai, Dweezil Zappa, Wayne Kramer), Bryan Beller ventures out on his own with his debut solo album, View.
Those familiar with his main body of work – nine years, five albums and countless tours with former Frank Zappa guitarist Mike Keneally – are well aware of his ability to navigate the complex, sometimes impossibly dense forms and styles present in Keneally’s work…all with the polish, simplicity and accessibility one might expect from a pop bassline. Both a repeat feature subject and three-year columnist for Bass Player Magazine, Beller has long drawn the attention of music fans with a discriminating taste for high-caliber playing.
But far from aspiring to bass heroism, Beller instead builds a carefully crafted emotional tapestry of interweaving themes and styles – a true album in the old-fashioned sense. Drawing on influences as disparate as John Scofield and Rage Against The Machine, Michael Landau and Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails and his mentor, Mike Keneally, the resulting body of work runs the gamut from hardcore jazz/rock to vocal pop to world beat while somehow staying thematically intact, all the while displaying equal parts density and sensitivity, melody and dissonance, tranquility and furious release.
Musicians include guitarists Mike Keneally, Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor Band), Griff Peters and Yogi; drummers Toss Panos (Toy Matinee, Steve Vai) and Joe Travers (Dweezil Zappa, Lisa Loeb).
Have a look and a listen:
https://youtu.be/DW_QFGsHzFE?list=PLYfedjczsGQB8qPrYZ97rmKMUdE0AQ6-i
https://youtu.be/A5qrXOZsxkI?list=PLYfedjczsGQB8qPrYZ97rmKMUdE0AQ6-i
Tracks:
- 1. Bear Divide
- 2. Seven Percent Grade
- 3. Supermarket People
- 4. Elate
- 5. Get Things Done
- 6. Backwoods
- 7. Bite
- 8. Eighteen Weeks
- 9. Projectile
- 10. Wildflower
- 11. No
- 12. See You Next Tuesday
- 13. View
Format: CD
Artist: Bryan Beller
Release Date: October 28, 2003