Present Music - Present Music: Graffiti - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Various Artists - Grammont Selection 5 / Various [COMPACT DISCS] date 01/01/2012

A heady and adventurous experience with ever-shifting elements of jazz, fuzz guitar, blues rock and psychedelia!Graffiti's origins can be traced back to 1967 and the dissolution of The Hangmen, a popular Washington DC area garage rock act well noted for the proto-punk stylings of their singles InchWhat A Girl Can't DoInch and InchFaces.Inch Singer Tony Taylor, a late addition to the band's lineup, recruited guitarist George Strunz to the group and soon announced the band would pursue a more psychedelic direction. It didn't take long for Graffiti to attract tag attention, and by August of 1968 the band signed to ABC Records and released their debut single, InchHe's Got The Knack.Inch In November of 1968 they released their one and only album.The juxtaposition between Graffiti's smooth vocal harmonies and their intricate songwriting is stark. One moment the group is immersed in all of the feel-good pop songwriting tropes of the era, oftentimes quite reminiscent of acts like The Association and The Mamas & The Papas. Meanwhile, the next moment sees the band vamping into extended passages, odd chord sequencing, and off beat time signatures, highlighted by Strunz's frequent fuzz laced soloing and the energetic drumming of Richie Blakin.The legacy of Graffiti's self-titled debut was seemingly hampered by the fact that that it is often lumped in with the plethora of other one-and-done psych releases of the time, an era in which major labels were falling over one another in an attempt to capitalize on the psychedelic sounds popularized by the Summer of Love. This is unfortunate because Graffiti's approach to songwriting and blending together of jazz, classical, and rock elements are rather groundbreaking, precursors to the arrival of progressive rock - proto-prog pioneers, if you will.Father ProtectorThe Capture Of MeLife BloodInterlude #1Jingle Jangle WomanNew LifeGirl On Fi

Although the American composer David Maslanka (1943-2017) wrote in a wide range of genres, it is for his generous output of music for wind band that he is best known. Three of the works heard here are in effect symphonic poems, all three infused with that big-hearted sense of space found in the best of American music and the quiet dignity of those endless open landscapes, but also energized by a powerful sense of freewheeling drama. The fourth piece is a charming and hugely engaging presentation of the instruments of the symphonic wind ensemble, a latter-day Peter and the Wolf - likewise intended for children and similarly bubbling with good tunes. The composer himself was closely involved in the preparation for these recordings - the last major project involving his music before his death - which now stand as a testament to a man much-loved in American musical circles.