Mark Guiliana: Beat Music-The Los Angeles Improvisations, My Life Starts Now

Drummer Mark Guiliana starts his own label with this pair of free ranging recordings. Bon Appetite!

Beat Music  has Guiliana teamed up with Tim Lefebvre/eb, Jeff Babko/key and Troy Zeigler/elec for 30, count ‘em, 30 pieces that range from under a minute to over three. A few include voices with “On Occasion Caucasion” sounding like a Martian grabs the microphone.  The rest of the tunes are a mix of electronic and acoustic drums providing short and riffy foundations for atmospheric keyboards and bass riffs. Nothing too developed, with the album feeling like one of those Sound Effect records from the 60s where everything is in and out before you know what to do with it.

Guiliana leads a similar team on My Life Starts Now with Stu Brooks/eb, Yuki Hirano/key, Michael Severson/g and the voices of Jeff Taylor, Gretchen Parlato and Meshell Ndegeocello making some cameo appearances. The thirteen tracks come off as drum pattern exercises, with a different paradiddle each time while the keyboards supply moods ranging from ethereal to Dickensian dark. If you’re a drumming student, you might like to play along with it to learn some new technique, but average fans may want a bit more elasticity.

Beat Music Productions

www.markhuiliana.com

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