Re: New CD Release - Boyante
Hey guys, hope all is well! Just got the new Progression Mag and wanted to share Boyante's review with the group, below. If you don't have the album yet or just want to listen to it, you can go to
http://boyanteband.bandcamp.com or stream on Spotify, etc. Thanks, cheers!
Boyante, A Rajatabla
2017, Fusion/Progressive
3 ½ stars / 5
Boyante is a Mexican progressive duo comprising Rene Manuel Flores Jimenez (composer/percussion) and Japhlet Bire Attias (Chapman Stick). The title track has a repetitive guitar line clearly evoking post-1980 King Crimson, Boyante contentedly letting things flow with a pensive tempo enlivened by vibraphone. Indeed, a seductively minimalist vibe pervades this album augmented by deliberate pacing. Although, that by no means is a criticism as creative edginess and melody complement one another to desired effect.
Boyante seeks to mix things up with some jazzy saxophone weaving through “Embudo,” strident strings in “Baires” plus polyrhythmic drumming on “Jugando al Alquimista” that is particularly effective.
A truly progressive (vs. stylistically “prog”) nugget is “Flotar”: Jazz-inflected vocals by guest Ada Carasusan evoke Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner,” though this piece comparatively is more sophisticated and complex. Overdubbed vocals set up hockets (syncopated voice exchange) atop a simple but effective bass line that could have been concocted by Tony Levin.
A Rajatabla is the kind of progressive fare that settles into your psyche without first knocking you over the head. And that’s saying something, especially nowadays.
- Dean Suzuki, Progression Magazine