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Thread: AAJ Review: FAT (Alex Machacek and his Fabulous Austrian Trio), #awesome

  1. #1

    AAJ Review: FAT (Alex Machacek and his Fabulous Austrian Trio), #awesome



    My review of #awesome, the latest from guitarist Alex Machacek and his Fabulous Austrian Trio (FAT), today at All About Jazz.

    While the appropriately titled #awesome represents Alex Machacek's third album in six years with his (similarly witty and self-effacingly monikered) FAT (Fabulous Austrian Trio), this trifecta of virtuosic Austrian musicians goes much further back. Both bassist Raphael Preuschl and drummer Herbert Pirker appeared on roughly half of the expat-Austrian/Los Angeles-based guitarist's acclaimed 2006 Abstract Logix debut, [sic], while Machacek and Preuschl can be heard together on the even earlier The Next Generation of Sound (Extraplatte, 2000).

    In the intervening years between [sic] and Machacek, Preuschl and Pirker's first official release as FAT, FAT (Abstract Logix, 2012), the guitarist released a number of similarly impressive albums for the label, including 2007's Improvision and '10's especially impressive 24 Tales. But with FAT it became clear that Machacek had found the perfect group for his appealing complex compositional constructs that, predicated on the guitarists's keen attention to sound, form and detail, also provide no shortage of space for freewheeling, dazzling improvisational élan and the trio's increasingly empathic interaction.

    And so, with #awesome, Machacek's Fabulous Austrian Trio continues to move even further towards the more relaxed environs that defined (Living the Dream) (Abstract Logix, 2016), albeit with some differences. First and foremost, while (Living the Dream) moved FAT in a more egalitarian direction, compositionally speaking, with Preuschl contributing four of its eleven tracks, #awesome returns the writing focus to Machacek, who contributes nine of the album's ten tracks, with only the through-composed 53 seconds of "Turing" credited as "Preuschl's idea.'" Its unknown whether Machacek's guitar voicings were actually written by the bassist but, with Machacek delivering them alongside his band mates, this brief interlude and de facto introduction to Machacek's episodic "Holiday in Temelin" still feels as one with the rest of the album.

    Yes, plenty has already been written about his roots in Allan Holdsworth's legato style and expansion upon the late guitarist's knotty harmonic voicings, but Machacek has long since asserted his own identity. Amongst many other things, Machacek's approach to harmony allows for shaping chord changes with internals that can, at times, ascend and descend concurrently in seemingly impossible ways. Similarly, much has also been spoken about the guitarist's penchant for Frank Zappa-informed writing, featuring episodic, rapid-fire compositional shifts that often feel more like complex collages that traverse a broad range of terrains than writing possessed of more straightforward form. But as the guitarist enters the south side of his forties, with a resume that includes Eddie Jobson's UKZ and semi-U.K. reunion, an ongoing teaching gig at LA's Musicians Institute and collaborations with British keyboardist/drummer Gary Husband, the late ex-King Crimson/Asia bassist/vocalist John Wetton and drummer Virgil Donati, amongst others, Machacek has long since emerged as a unique voice that is truly greater than the sum of its multifaceted musical touchstones.

    Continue reading here...
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

  2. #2
    Member StarThrower's Avatar
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    Will have to give this one a listen. I have a copy of the first CD which I enjoy quite a bit. I also dig Machacek's live tracks on the Abstract Logix New Universe Festival. A superb 2 disc package I can recommend to anyone looking for a very satisfying and challenging set of fusion and progressive music.

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    Member StarThrower's Avatar
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    I listened to several tracks at bandcamp. Sounds very good, but some of the funkier tracks remind me too much of Wayne Krantz. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the opener, Disco Suite. But for my ears the coolest tune is Holiday In Temelin. That's some great music. Sounds even better with headphones. Thanks for the review!

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by StarThrower View Post
    Will have to give this one a listen. I have a copy of the first CD which I enjoy quite a bit. I also dig Machacek's live tracks on the Abstract Logix New Universe Festival. A superb 2 disc package I can recommend to anyone looking for a very satisfying and challenging set of fusion and progressive music.
    I'd recommend it too. I was lucky enough to have been there. And I reviewed the CD also!
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by StarThrower View Post
    I listened to several tracks at bandcamp. Sounds very good, but some of the funkier tracks remind me too much of Wayne Krantz. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the opener, Disco Suite. But for my ears the coolest tune is Holiday In Temelin. That's some great music. Sounds even better with headphones. Thanks for the review!
    My pleasure. I'll argue your comparison to Krantz, though; at least IMO, Alex sounds nothing like him in either tone or approach. Both are often-complex writers, though, but I think both have harmonic signatures that are all their own.

    Anyway, if you've not heard (Living the Dream), FAT's second album, I'd recommend it and #awesome, as you can hear the trio evolve across the three albums, and become increasingly empathic.
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

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    Member StarThrower's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jkelman View Post
    My pleasure. I'll argue your comparison to Krantz, though; at least IMO, Alex sounds nothing like him in either tone or approach. Both are often-complex writers, though, but I think both have harmonic signatures that are all their own.
    I've listened to both enough to recognize their individuals approaches. I suppose my comparisons may be superficial? I guess I prefer Machacek because he varies his tone and approach a bit more. I grow tired of the wirey strat sound Krantz uses most of the time. I'll go back and listen to the second release. I never did pick up that one.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by StarThrower View Post
    I've listened to both enough to recognize their individuals approaches. I suppose my comparisons may be superficial? I guess I prefer Machacek because he varies his tone and approach a bit more. I grow tired of the wirey strat sound Krantz uses most of the time. I'll go back and listen to the second release. I never did pick up that one.
    Meant no disrespect 😎...

    ...I'm with you also, in preferring Machacek over Krantz... having seen Wayne a couple times live, while he's never less than impressive, one particular Montreal show was in a tiny venue, the band was way too loud and seemed to meander a lot. Machacek, on the other hand (though I've only seen him once) seems a lot more focused in his soloing and way that he weaves it into his often knotty compositional constructs. No disrespect to Wayne, either (I loved Howie 61, partly because by writing actual songs, it tightened up his aporoach and worked much better, at least IMO.

    That said, there are some musicians who I always seem to prefer as guests/sidemen instead of leaders. Pianist Jason Moran is one, and Wayne Krantz is another; his playing with Donald Fagen, for example, is simply top-notch.
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

  8. #8
    Krantz is an absolute genius. I'd suggest you reconsider

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by tribalfusion View Post
    Krantz is an absolute genius. I'd suggest you reconsider
    I'm not saying I don't like him. Only that I prefer him supporting others. His writing is great, but I think that Alex manages to write similarly (but different!) complex music that manages to feel more organic...especially his recent work with FAT.

    But I love Wayne...I've got all his records. And while I'm not judging him on one bad show, it was enough to identify what I consider to be some weaknesses live, specifically that he and his group seemed to over-extend the music, whereas, in comparison, FAT stretches out more, to be sure, but with greater attention to not stretching out too much. And remember: you're talking to a jazz geek here, so extended soloing is not, in and of itself, problematic to me. But I do feel, from my couple of live experiences, that Wayne and his trios go a little too far.

    But that should not be taken as lack of respect or love of his work. But I do feel his more recent Abstract Logix albums, more concisely done, work better, even with all their knotty idiosyncratic wonderfulness, than his over-extended stuff. But even so, I've definitely a soft spot for all his work. But if I had to pick between him and a Alex, I'd generally pick Alex.
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

  10. #10
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    Thanks for the pointer. I have been following Machacek since the 'Featuring Ourselves' album.
    That one is as close to a desert island disc as they come.
    His output has been interesting, pretty uneven from My point of view.
    Of his more recent stuff I like '24 Tales' but I have not looked into the FAT discs.
    Time for exploration.
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
    -- Aristotle
    Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
    “A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain

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    Member FrippWire's Avatar
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    Thanks for sharing! Over the last few years I've become a big fan of his. Machacek = autobuy.

  12. #12
    Member interbellum's Avatar
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    Finally got the third FAT-album, #awesome. Another lovely trio-CD from musicians who know how to react on each others virtuoso playing. And it's fun to listen to them because they don't take themselves too seriously all the time (the funk/disco in Disco Suite and the voice of Justin Randi in Finally are just two examples for that).

  13. #13
    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    Thanks for the review John.
    What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)

  14. #14
    Member StarThrower's Avatar
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    Three years later and I just bought the CD. Wow! Track 6, Holiday In Temelin, is a mind blower! Some great sounding heavy riffs and Holdsworth like legato madness. Great stuff!

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