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Yet another project from prolific guitarist Tim Motzer, Base3 also includes bassist Barry Meehan and drummer Doug Hirlinger. On Darkmatter cuts like “De:Vision” and “No Time For Silence,” the trio plays as straightforwardly as possible, placing their feet firmly in the jazz fusion sandbox and letting the melodies and propulsion carry the tunes forward as much as the improvisation. Motzer lets his freak flag fly more overtly on the ambling “Coda Fall Out” and “Ninth Ward,” adding dollops of dissonance and noise to what might otherwise be ambient wallpaper. Owing something to both Bill Frisell‘s more stripped down efforts and the sparse jazz trio work of Gateway, Darkmatter finds Motzer as unadorned as this experimental musician is likely to get.
Live From Earth, recorded in concert at various Philadelphia locations, follows its studio counterpart into relative accessibility. “God Particle” begins with what sound like casual explorations, with Motzer rocking the eBow, but eventually the rhythm section kicks into gear and the guitarist begins putting his baritone six-string through its paces. Things start to get bizarre during “The Premonition,” as Motzer applies electronic gadgetry to his tone and sends his riffs spinning off like electrons loosed from their atomic bonds, but that’s merely Motzer reminding us from where he comes. The music begins to drift a little too much by “The Unanswered Call,” which floats off into the ether. But overall the addition of stage drive to the trio’s telepathic interaction gives Live From Earth an extra spice to its already potent brew.
