Brian Ellis - Free Way

must say .. i like

this is great stuff brian.

far out.

Cool! Looks like some copies are finally getting out there :).

Thanks for the nice comments... they are always appreciated.

from textura...

Free Way by Californian Brian Ellis is anything but meditative soundscaping. Ellis's own Benbecula debut (soon to be followed in August by The Silver Creature) inhabits an explorative jazz-electronic zone situated halfway between Flanger and On the Corner- era Miles Davis. With its free flow of drums, tenor sax, guitar, bass, electronics, and echoplexed trumpet wah-wah, the psychedelic space-jazz of “Deep and Out” sounds like an outtake from a lost 1972 Miles session. If the material is entirely constructed by Ellis alone (often impossible to tell these days), he effects a remarkably convincing simulation of a full band's interplay on extended workouts like “Smeared Smiled” and the thirteen-minute “The New Free Way.” Transporting the album momentarily to India , tablas generate agitated, up-tempo rhythms in “ Escondido ” before sax and drums barrel in and assume center stage. A nice change of pace, “Abmilak” closes the album placidly with a kalimba-laden setting. Ultimately, Ellis's release may deploy a markedly different production methodology than that of On the Corner, Agharta, et al., but, sonically, Free Way doesn't stray radically from the template established by those releases.

from the nerve magazine

"You’ve got to admire Brian’s commitment to a theme. Free Way is a thorough exploration of the thin, glitchy line that exists between free jazz and ambient electronica… just like it sounds, eh? Even though the Californian’s debut in Benbecula’s storied Minerals Series is supposed to showcase his more experimental side, this work of fluid art finds the uncharted territory Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) and Steve Reid were going for but, as close as they were, didn’t quite reach. Cascading keyboard noises/effects and airport hangar drums move in unrecognizable lucidity with rolling bass, sporadic guitar strums and solos, and haunting, disembodied saxophone to create truly dense textures but undeniably groovy jams. Almost makes me wish I didn’t have my Buick crushed into a cube so I could enjoy this the way the title makes me assume I should, almost."

- Filmore Mescalito Holmes

http://www.thenervemagazine.com/article_template.php?id=21

Will be getting my paws on this, quality.