Prime Cuts

A collection of Tony’s bass playing from his Magna Carta sessions. Includes Tony Levin track exclusive to this CD, a bonus 16 minute audio interview with Tony and unreleased MP3 from BLS sessions "T & T Vignette" is a treat, an unreleased track from the Black Light Syndrome sessions, featuring Levin and another pioneer, Terry Bozzio, who together create a probing collage of sounds. An appropriate title we have in "Another Dimension", one culled from the repertoire of Liquid Tension Experiment2. Again, Tony stretches the boundaries of Stick and bass to achieve the required intensity, balancing himself against Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci, and Jordan Rudess. Check out the brilliant shift from a probing ostinato to a flamenco-Argentinean folkloric passage (roughly 6:22). Talk about tension and release! "Dark Corners" is a remix from the Bozzio Levin Stevens album Sonic Residue From Vapourspace produced by Mark Gage. Vapourspace’s Gage captures the symbiosis that is so integral to this ensemble and spotlights the sonic side trips to the nether regions that provide a foil to the pressing rhythmic motifs. From Magellan’s album Hundred Year Flood, "Brother’s Keeper", begins pastoral—it could be Steeleye Span—until Levin enters with a gaunt, growling bass line that signals the Industrial Revolution! Trent Gardner, Wayne Gardner, and Joe Franco match Levin’s ferocity. Take note of how Levin maintains a consistent, top-of-the-beat surging where others might tend to drag. "Endless", from Bozzio Levin and Stevens’ Situation Dangerous presents numerous interesting facets. One of these rears up at 6:26 and features Levin holding down a plundering tonality and unflinching groove in what seems to be a 9/8 time signature. In typical Levin style he maintains a selfless balance, letting Stevens soar while staying himself grounded.