Welcome back, O-10. Hope all is well.
Ghosthouse, I like the "School Of The Arts" clip, thanks. I like it for reasons that don't always come into play for me when I listen to something. You mention T Lavitz. Like you, I have always liked his playing. You may find a little background of interest:
First, I think I posted something by The Dregs a while back around the time that you first started posting on the thread. I think I posted it to get your reaction to Steve Morse, but I don't remember if you commented on the clip.
I knew T Lavitz when we were both attending the University of Miami School of Music. He was a saxophone student and piano was a secondary interest; although his talent on piano was obvious. He later decided to concentrate on the piano. Some of the original members (not Lavitz) of what was then the University of Miami "Rock Ensemble" went on to found The Dixie Dregs. T Lavitz was an extraordinarily talented guy with a very wide musical range. "School Of The Arts" was unfortunately one of his last projects.
That project is undoubtedly a fusion project attitude-wise; with the interesting twist, as you point out, that most of the instruments are acoustic. One of the reasons I find it interesting and like it (with some qualifications) is that I like it even though it flies in the face of some of the things that are usually requirements for my liking music and what would normally be needed for music to sound "organic" as you say. First, T Lavitz wrote all the music....ALL THE MUSIC....EVERY NOTE, including the solos. It was all through-composed. Beyond that, the musicians were not only never in the same room, but were in different parts of the country and in this time of file sharing and home studios they each performed their respective parts alone and as written and sent to them by Lavitz. One could say that, eventhough these are virtuoso players, the last bit of musician interaction is not there compared to other projects; interaction that results in more spontaneity and deeper grooves, but it's pretty darn good in those regards and it's the concept that carries the day in my opinion. High energy stuff with lots of twists and turns performed at, as you say, a very high level of proficiency. Lavitz was a very interesting guy who was a jazz player with a rock player's attitude. It might also be interesting to note that his previous (I think) band was called "Jazz Is Dead".
