The band Zhongyu consists of Jon Davis on the Chapman stick, guzheng and electronic keyboards, Dennis Rea/g, Alicia DeJoie/ v, James DeJoie/woodwinds, Randy Doak/dr and Daniel Barry/tp. The music itself mixes between pastoral Asian landscapes and electronic rock. Dashes of progressive rock are evinced on “Apple of My Mind’s Eye 2” and the spacey “Torture Chamber of Commerce” while DeJoie’s Flute adds dashes of cherry blossoms on the trudgingly electric “Hydraulic Fracas.” Spacious and Asian strings are plucked on “Apple of My Mind’s Eye 1” and the band leans toward its inner Weather Report on “Half Remembered Drowning Dream.” Various directions pull back and forth, occasionally finding a happy middle.
Moon June Records