Alex Skolnick's Planetary Coalition: Alex Skolnick's Planetary Coalition

Metal guitar legend, Alex Skolnick, has forged quite a guitar reputation for himself over the years. Be it from the Thrash Metal of Bay Area pioneers, Testament, or his eclectic Jazz voyages in the Alex Skolnick Trio, Skolnick has proved time and time again that he is not your typical shredder. As a matter of fact, years ago when Skolnick had left Testament (yes he did rejoin the band), he moved from California to NY to attend the famous New School for Jazz improvisation to hone even more skills. All of this knowledge has brought him to his latest and most adventurous effort to date, Alex Skolnick's Planetary Coalition, a true World music effort that incorporates 27 musicians from 5 continents with original music and unbelievable musicianship abound. This is a cross cultural release that is captivating, romantic and quite interesting.

On Planetary Coalition, Skolnick gets to pay tribute to music that is near and dear to his heart and the masses get to enjoy what honestly might be Skolnick's finest guitar playing ever recorded. Planetary Coalition is 14 tracks of mostly Acoustic guitar that include flavors from all over the world, Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Indian and African to name but a few. Skolnick enlisted several world class musicians to guest on this record, most notably to me are the wonderful brother and sister duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela, who shine on stand out track, "Playa la ropa". But the triumphant tour de force comes in the form of the Gypsy Jazz tribute to Django Reinhardt, "Django Tango". Skolnick shows mastery in his playing in this difficult and elegant Jazz form that is simply jaw dropping.

Alex Skolnick's Planetary Coalition is a true global music project that is steeped in passion and full of awe inspiring musical performances. Each song takes you on a voyage to a different land, space and time each with remarkable musical expertise. The overall theme in this wonderful record is the need for people to come together no matter where they are from regional or their background and that music is the thing that speaks all languages and is a common thread. I, for one loved this album and found it to be both enlightening and entertaining.

Track Listing
1. Island In the Sky
2. Salto
3. Passage to Pranayama
4. Taksim Square
5. Playa La Ropa
6. Django Tango
7. Old World Dance
8. Alla La'Ke
9. Back To the Land
10. Mojito
11. Rock of Ramallah
12. Negev Desert Sunset
13. Return of the Yi People
14. Sleeping Gypsy

Added: January 11th 2015
Reviewer: Butch Jones
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2668
Language: english

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