Thursday, November 18, 2010

Lalle Larsson: Waveworld (2009)

For a prog fan, LALLE LARSSON (Lars-Egon Larsson, born in 1974 in Malmö) is perhaps the best known as a keyboard player from Swedish Symphonic giants KARMAKANIC. He also played in 3RD WORLD ELECTRIC, ELECTROCUTION 250, and had collaborated with THE ALCHEMISTS and Virgil Donati; to name only a few.
However, from 1994 up to this day he had released a handful of albums - all eclectic in nature and worth checking. This Scandinavian soul is deeply rooted in fusion,coloring with strong shades of various Western Academic musics, a teaspoon (or more) of avantgarde approach - and of course, with a pretentious (in a good sense) bow to his old love, heavy metal.
We might argue about a degree of homogeneity in his variously-influenced music, but while it's certainly true to a degree (his ability to smoothly shift from jazz to romanticism is comparable to the biggest legends of prog rock), but that's beside the point. Larsson is an extremely versatile artist, a true professional with high degree of technicality, but also with spirit. His versatility might vary from old-fashioned jazz-rock to the complex orchestral pieces accompanied with metal band (his skills as a composer should be mentioned as well, as they're occupying a good chunk of his agenda) -- and everything in between aforementioned styles.
Personnel
Lalle Larsson — Acoustic and electric keyboards
Mickael "Walle" Wahlgren — Drums & Perc
Jan Karlsson — Acoustic bass
Andreas Palsson — Vibraphone
Stefan Rosqvist — Guitar
Jonas Reingold — Bass
Tracklist
01. Marrionette
02. Dance of the Dead
03. Newborn Awakening
04. Adagio
05. Weaveworld
Weaveworld
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