Tunnels, The Art Of Living Dangerously

There's a fantastic Weather Report type opening complete with chants and crowd noises (think "Black Market") at the start of this Tunnels live album mostly culled from a couple of month's gigs early in 2003, that then closes down into a dark funky groove giving the composer, Percy Jones, full license to wow us with his amazing contra-Jaco technique of solid low end anchoring and colourful high end embellishment. Marc Wagnon seems to be everywhere at once, bewildering us with a suitcase full of vibes effects. He is a master of disguise. Frank Katz is a good groove maester, but he messes up a fill when segueing into double tempo early on and has the sense not to try that trick again when doubling up later on - his long-term performance with the band has improved but he sometimes seems over-stretched. Perhaps he hasn't got the same size of chops as his bandmates. Anyway, the audience rightly receive this powerhouse track with the obligatory whoops, yells and yeehaas, as is their want.

The second track has some magical moments too. Penned by Wagnon and Katz they conjure a John McLaughlin's "Free Spirits"-like angular groove between keyboards patch and drums, but most of the album's writing credits thankfully go to Wagnon and Jones, probably a direct result of which are the subsequent numerous standout moments, some due to guest artists who feature on a large minority of the tracks.

In particular you have to single out guitarist Van Manakas who appears of Wagnon's "Prisoner's of the Knitting Factory Hallway". A few years after his last studio recording with Tunnels and he's back on stage a completely different animal. Perhaps the live setting gives him the space to really stretch out, perhaps he's been practicing! Who knows? But whatever he's been doing, he returns with new fire and a great tone, lightning fast runs and an arsenal of choice comping licks. The obvious comparison is with John McLaughlin, but Van Manakas, at least for this short outing, is THAT good. The other thing about this particularly tuneful and memorable track is that it has me desperately searching to find out what other song it reminds me of so strongly, I find myself automatically reaching for Stanley Clarke, but "Silly Putty" it ain't, and it's not on the dubious "Fuse One" recording. Hmmmm, ... I wonder if anyone else can do any better.

Other guests include off-and-on Tunnels, and long-term Brand X guitarist John Goodsall on one track, and exciting violinist Mark Feldman on two. Of interest, but a bit pointless, is a noodling space guitar jam, the only recording from the second half of the year, and also the only one with a replacement drummer, Lance Carter, as well as a different guest guitarist, Julien Feltin. The resulting sound is so different from the Tunnels norm that all we really get is a reminder of the adaptability of Jones and Wagnon. Oh, and how they might sound with a really good drummer!

Which leads nicely to the terminal track "Inseminator", another funky Jones number, including a "not bad" Katz drum solo, and a mercifully short applause outro, 'cos that's not why we listen to live performances.

A superb live collection that shows the band at their living best. But, given that the sampled gigs were all so close together, why not just release a whole concert next time?