Ad Perpetuum FAFARD
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Antoine Ad Perpetuum FAFARD Vinnie Jerry Featuring COLAIUTA De VILLIERS Jr Featuring Vinnie Colaiuta Jerry De Villiers Jr Antoine Fafard with Gerry Etkins (on tracks 2, 3 & 7) Gary Husband (on track 6) Jean-Pierre Zanella (on tracks 6, 9 & 10) 01 Shuffle It! (5:30) 02 Riff & Raft (4:49) 03 PolySeven (5:32) 04 Same but Different (4:28) 05 Five Course Meal (5:10) 06 D-Day (5:20) 07 Eternal Loop (5:23) 08 Slash One (4:51) 09 The Egg (5:52) 10 PreSilence (2:52) Produced by Antoine Fafard and Jerry De Villiers Jr Music composed by A. Fafard except ‘Shuffle It!’ composed by A. Fafard and J. De Villiers Jr Shuffle It! (5:30) 01 (A. Fafard/J. De Villiers Jr) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums Jerry De Villiers Jr: lead guitar Antoine Fafard: bass & classical guitar his was the first piece composed for the piece together. The song features layers of synth Talbum. The main groove was inspired by pads and percussive ambiences, providing an John Bonham’s beat for Fool in the Rain on Led introduction to what is to come. The piece was Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti. This slow shuffle also the first to be mixed. This proved difficult to was adapted to a bar of 6/4 followed by a bar of begin with, but the final mix helped define the 7/4 throughout the song. A chord progression direction for the rest of the album. written on guitar was then added: as with many chord progressions on this album, the frequent modulation made improvisation quite difficult. Jerry composed the melody to form the first song we’ve ever written in collaboration. His approach is very lyrical, while Vinnie’s Solo 1: A. Fafard powerful and precise performance glues the Solo 2: J. De Villiers Jr Riff & Raft (4:49) 02 (A. Fafard) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums Jerry De Villiers Jr: lead guitar Gerry Etkins: lead keyboard Antoine Fafard: bass he first section of this song is based on a piece still further. Jerry and Gerry have worked Tsyncopated, turbo-charged slap bass riff together since the 1990s and their musical played at a fast tempo (140bpm), creating an chemistry is apparent on this track. Vinnie’s intense contrast with the relatively laid-back busy yet focused playing supports the soloists shuffle of the album’s opening track. Following superbly. the melodic section, the piece leads to a synth solo performed by Gerry Etkins, a close friend of Jerry’s who has played with many great artists from the jazz fusion world including Billy Cobham and Dean Brown. Gerry’s exciting, lyrical work is followed by Jerry’s own Solo 1: G. Etkins high-octane solo. The two then venture into Solo 2: J. De Villiers Jr solo exchanges, increasing the intensity of the Solo 3: J. De Villiers Jr & G. Etkins PolySeven (5:32) 03 (A. Fafard) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums Jerry De Villiers Jr: lead guitar Gerry Etkins: lead keyboard Antoine Fafard: bass & classical guitar t is one thing to see a piece of music on paper De Villiers Jr and Gerry Etkins again execute Ibut another to hear it realised in its final rich and balanced solos. Vinnie then follows, form. PolySeven represents the clear intention unleashing the first drum solo of the album to explore certain boundaries of complexity in where he improvises in perpetual 7/8 time, music creation and performance. As the title hitting all the accents through it – an impressive implies the song features polyrhythmic activity, and musical performance. in a 7/8 time signature, and seeks to take the intensity of Riff & Raft to another level. In section A, the kick drum and bass guitar lock together in 7/8, while the drum’s side stick falls in 3/4 with the keyboards and guitar. Vinnie’s Solo 1: J. De Villiers Jr display of independence in this section is jaw- Solo 2: G. Etkins dropping. Over this intricate composition Jerry Solo 3: V. Colaiuta Same but Different (4:28) 04 (A. Fafard) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums Jerry De Villiers Jr: lead guitar Antoine Fafard: bass & classical guitar ollowing the intensity displayed up to this solo of the album to this point, while Jerry’s Fpoint, Same but Different provides some of rendition of the melody and his own solo lifts the rare moments of calm and relative simplicity the song into another orbit. Unlike most of on the album. The inspiration for the track the chord progressions on the album the piece was a piece from Jerry’s own repertoire. The uses a single, straightforward tonality, which original idea was to perform Jerry’s work as he is not unwelcome when it’s time to improvise! had composed it, but after experimenting with Vinnie’s approach includes some tasteful side various arrangements a new piece emerged, stick playing that perfectly suits the music. and the song’s title refers to the mutation that occurred. This track was the last to be composed for the project and was completed rather quickly as the deadline approached. Solo 1: A. Fafard Same but Different features the second bass Solo 2: J. De Villiers Jr Five Course Meal (5:10) 05 (A. Fafard) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums Jerry De Villiers Jr: lead guitar Antoine Fafard: bass he intention with this piece was to and tension. There were quite a few solo takes Tcompose a second song for the album to choose from after the recording, but the one that featured the slap bass technique. This that ended up on the final version of the track manifested in 5/4, mainly driven by joined was outstanding. Vinnie’s short solo comes syncopation between the bass and drums. before the song naturally concludes with a Two chord progressions, heard in the melody reminder of its introduction. When it came to sections (A and B) and the solo sections, are sequencing the tracks on the album, it seemed superimposed over these rhythmical elements. most appropriate to place this song fifth. The decision was made to include a slap bass solo, which is always a challenge to perform well, and the odd meter did not make the Solo 1: A. Fafard task easier! Jerry follows the bass solo with an Solo 2: J. De Villiers Jr intense, musical improvisation full of dynamics Solo 3: V. Colaiuta D-Day (5:20) 06 (A. Fafard) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums (left channel) Gary Husband: drums (right channel) Jerry De Villiers Jr: guitar and synth guitar Jean-Pierre Zanella: sax Antoine Fafard: bass & classical guitar his piece provided a rare opportunity and drummer for Allan Holdsworth. The Tto showcase two legendary drummers Latin influenced rhythmical elements of this on one song. Opposite Vinnie’s performance, piece were composed first, while the chord the great multi-instrumentalist Gary Husband progression followed. As well as the great drum contributed the second drum part, recorded work, the song also features a superb sax solo at the end of July 2014 in London. The song from Jean-Pierre Zanella and a wild guitar synth features exchanges between Vinnie and Gary solo from Jerry. The bass solo that follows was throughout, including solo exchanges towards performed using an octaver effect. the end, and excerpts from Gary’s performance can be seen in the mini-documentary about the Solo 1: J-P Zanella making of the album. It was a huge privilege to Solo 2: J. De Villiers Jr (synth guitar) work with Gary, who at the time was between Solo 3: A. Fafard tours as keyboard player for John McLaughlin Solo 4: V. Colaiuta & G. Husband Eternal Loop (5:23) 07 (A. Fafard) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums Jerry De Villiers Jr: lead guitar Gerry Etkins: lead keyboard Antoine Fafard: bass & classical guitar he chord progression for this piece was Etkins, who adds an extra colour that is always Tinitially composed on the classical guitar. welcome. Vinnie concludes the solos with an The idea was to loop these six chords and drive intense series of intricate fills and accentuations. them with a syncopated motion from the bass The musicians then naturally move to the and drums, and the impression of perpetual conclusion of a piece that despite its title must motion given by this repeated loop inspired end. the title of the song. The melody’s mellow ambience is followed by the bass solo, after which a more hectic mood prevails as Jerry takes off. He again recorded a large number of Solo 1: A. Fafard takes for this track, making it difficult to choose Solo 2: J. De Villiers Jr ‘the one’! Jerry’s solo is followed by the third Solo 3: G. Etkins and final contribution to the album from Gerry Solo 4: V. Colaiuta Slash One (4:51) 08 (A. Fafard) Vinnie Colaiuta: drums Jerry De Villiers Jr: lead guitar Antoine Fafard: bass his piece was based around a hairta follows, with Vinnie responding to the six-string Trudiment on the drums, taking a similar improvisation. Vinnie’s own solo then gives him approach to Tomas Haake of Meshuggah’s work the opportunity to develop the unsettled aspect on the song Bleed. The progression is composed of this piece with creative beat displacements. entirely of major triads, with an underlying bass note defining the final voicing of each chord. It is always risky to compose with a concept of this nature, but in this case the harmonic result was interesting and flowed naturally. Jerry tried several different approaches to the guitar solo and ended up with something wild Solo 1: A. Fafard and memorable, beginning with a slow feel and Solo 2: J.