Don't Be Scared Anymore

Amazon.com
After two decades as drummer in the Pat Metheny Group and recording with everyone from blues artist Ellen McIlwaine to avant guitarist Derek Bailey there is apparently no musical style that scares Paul Wertico. Genre mixing is not unusual in the postmodern age, but it remains hard to find artists who blend musical styles in a manner both seamless and personal. Thus, Wertico's trio is a rare find in its ability to range comfortably from the down-home blues of "The Underground" to the Afro-groove of "The Visit" to the King Crimson industrial noise of "Testament"--and without sounding like a different band on each cut. Credit guitarist John Moulder's synthesis of sophisticated jazz licks and raw rock tone for helping to keep the project on course. Though a studio recording, Don't Be Scared Anymore has a live energy that equals or surpasses the group's first outing, Live in Warsaw. Scary good. --Michael Ross

From Jazziz
Listeners only familiar with drummer Paul Wertico from his stints with fellow Chicagoan vocalist Kurt Elling or his tasteful rustling behind fabled word jazz hepster Ken Nordine may be caught off guard by this session. Though Wertico has long traveled as a key component of guitar hero Pat Metheny's multi-faceted orbits, here the drummer chases a more fixed vibe. An effort, he states, to use the studio to its maximum effect, Don't Be Scared Anymore is an unabashed revel in the power-trio slash-and-burn jazz-rock of 1970s .

Guitarist John Moulder evokes the overheated style of Wired-era Jeff Beck - as on the brooding, bluesy "The Underground" - and some of the loopish intensity of art-rock heroes like Robert Fripp, while Wertico and bassist Eric Hochberg keep the rhythms bustling.

It's a more interesting record when Moulder isn't pushing the VU meter deep into the red, notably because Wertico's skillful touch can be more strongly felt. There's a supple stretch of the CD-closing "Testament" that accomplishes this balance beautifully, but as group concepts go, this one aims more stridently towards a form of enlightened jamming that fans of the latter-day Allman Brothers Band would appreciate.

Don't Be Scared Anymore,Paul Wertico Trio,Premonition (Emd),Fusion,Jazz,Jazz Music,Jazz-Rock,Pop

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