TONY LEVIN
Waters of Eden (Narada)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

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At the top of my list for great bassists is Tony Levin. The roster of artists he's played with is huge, but he's mostly known as the man at the bottom of both King Crimson and Peter Gabriel's music for the last decade and a half. Occasionally he struts his stuff on solo albums like his latest, Waters of Eden.

Playing the Chapman Stick, cello, and both four- and five-string electric bass with equal ease, plus using his unique fingertip drumsticks to pull out all manner of emotion in jazz and rock idioms, Tony is the complete package. Here he brings the melodic qualities of the bass to the fore in subtle, uncluttered music, bolstered by Larry Fast on keyboards, Jerry Prevar on guitar, and Jerry Moratta on drums. The good news is that you don't have to be a musician to appreciate Waters. It's all instrumental pieces that do not attack, and support thought instead. It's the kind of album you can stay at home with all day or night.

Favorites include "Bone and Flesh," where Tony's work sounds like a snorting rhino, and the beautifully liquid title cut featuring the California Guitar Trio--whose cello part didn't impress Tony's dog much. "His ears remained pasted back on his head," says Tony in the liner notes. No matter, it sounds great to humans. "Belle" is a sedate piano-bass duet with his brother Peter, dedicated to their mother. "Pillar of Fire" is simply majestic, building on solid contributions by Prevar and Fast.

It's not as good as a Peter Gabriel album, but I can imagine adding Peter's lyrics and vocals and a few more world beats to make it into one. All in all, Levin's handiwork simply shines.

Track List:

Bone and Flesh, Waters of Eden, Icarus, Gecko Walk, Belle, Pillar of Fire, Boulevard of Dreams, Opal Road, Utopia

© 2000 - Rusty Pipes