Coyote Poets of the Universe: Pandora's Box

I reviewed CPotU's last album Callin' You Home for another website and found this band to be full of wonderful surprises. A great mix of the blues, jazz with some prog overtones. CPotU are a Denver, Colorado based band full of that Frank Zappa spirit. The nine member multi – instrumentalist band plays a full range of instruments including, "guitars, violins, tenor and five string banjos, saxophones, fretless bass, flutes, oboe, clarinet, English horn, keyboards, drums, djembe and other percussion toys"

This is their latest album, and it is full of that richness and diversity of sound that I remember from the last. This time they seem to be concentrating more on melodies and songs instead of music which supports poetry.

"Pandora's Box" is a great opener; "Spellbound" will take you to Rio. The flute – work on "Raff Riff" would make even Ian Anderson blush with pride. "Cuando El Ray Nimrod" is a fantastic rendition of the classic that will bring you visions of Cordoba, (definitely the highlight for me). "Blood and Bones" has a Memphis/blues piano feel to it with some flute, violin and sax thrown in for flavor. "Vermilion Cliffs" is a wonderful mandolin, violin and oboe instrumental. "Solstice" brings back the familiar poetry style set to English – like folk music that takes you right back to the 60s. "Quittin' Time" is a fun 'low down nasty' song, set to the blues with violin, organ, and drums.

A wonderful new incarnation of the band's style of music set to poetry. Steeped in the flavor of the American West but spanning the universe with sounds from the world. As their website states, "We come from the land of Square Shaped States. Got pork and beans on paper plates. Silver spurs on our inline skates. It's all natural, nothin's fake. Out here in the land where you decide your fate" (http://www.coyotepoetsoftheuniverse.com/fr_home.cfm, 2011).

Track Listing:

1. "Pandora' Box"
2. "Spellbound"
3. "Raff Riff"
4. "History of the World"
5. "Cuando El Ray Nimrod"
6. "Rescue"
7. "Blood and Bones"
8. "Surrounded by Cobras"
9. "Vermilion Cliffs"
10. "Solstice"
11. "Quittin' Time"

Added: May 16th 2011
Reviewer: Mark Johnson
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2897
Language: english

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