Modern Times - Steps Ahead

Oct

2

Modern Times - Steps Ahead

≡ Category: 1980s, Fusion, Music Reviews, Worth A Listen |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

WORTH A LISTEN

Rating:

Overall, Modern Times is better than mediocre, but not good enough for me to recommend in good conscience. The thing is, though, that it has a couple of exceptional songs on it, which I couldn’t bear not to let you know about.

This is one of those CDs that you probably shouldn’t lay out the money to buy unless you a major fan of either Michael Brecker or Steps Ahead. Most people would be better off getting an mp3 of the best tunes and leaving it at that.

The approach Steps Ahead takes on Modern Times is an interesting one. Sequencers had long been used in jazz fusion by the likes of Jan Hammer, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and others. But on Modern Times, sequencers are used as the very foundation of the tunes and not in a funk context either, but in a pure fusion context. For Steps Ahead, this means tricky rhythmic and harmonic patterns.

Now, this approach wasn’t followed up extensively by other bands or even by Steps Ahead themselves, and there’s a good reason for that. There are not many improvisers who carry around a metronome in their heads. Most saxophone players and guitars play behind the beat or rush the beat or they waver slightly in either direction. Very few are right on. If you are going to improvise over tricky rhythmic and harmonic sequences laid down by a sequencer, you’d better be as accurate as an atomic clock or you’re going to sound like a chump. Michael Brecker is one of the few improvisers who can pull this off.

Unfortunately, this concept is mostly put to fairly mundane use on Modern Times. Tunes like Self Portrait and Now You Know were seemingly composed with Adult Contemporary radio stations in mind, and indeed, they had rare crossover success in those markets. I’m sure that improved sales of the album at the time, which is nice for the musicians, but not so nice for us.

Other tunes, such as Modern Times and Old Town are more interesting, but not quite successful. Oops is kind of dopey, but is has the virtue of carrying over it’s tricky structure into the solos, which is always a plus.

The best tune by far is the opener, Safari. It starts out unassumingly enough, with a repetitive sequencer riff in one key. Brecker (tenor sax) plays a fairly generic pentatonic melody. Then things start to get interesting. While still keeping the metronomic beat, the harmonic rhythm starts to get subdivided, moving in bizarre directions. The melody gets weird too, keeping pace with the harmonic rhythms, erupting in sudden outbursts, stopping and starting on a dime. The whole thing gives the impression of a safari on the Serengeti, with herds of antelope loping along, with the occasional roars of an elephant piercing the air. Then, amazingly, Brecker starts to solo on the form, respecting the crazy rhythms and harmonies. Very cool.

The other tune to look out for is Radio-Active. Sure enough, it has a machine like groove, with lots of sequenced percussion and DMX drums. A Pro 1 bass joins in with a robotic bass line. Then the melody starts. It’s Brecker, tripled in a highly syncopated line. Is he really overdubbing several saxophones in perfect unison? Or has he somehow fed his saxophone into a synthesizer? I dunno, but the effect is pretty wild. But how about the improvisation? Well, it’s pretty much standard Brecker groove-based stuff. Nothing new there. And other than the atmosphere to recommend it, it’s basically a one-chord tune. The best way to see if it’s worth downloading for you is to check out the sample.

Glad I got that off my chest.