MARKUS REUTER featuring FABIO TRENTINI and ASAF SIRKIS, Truce ❤ (2025). Ya gotta hand it to touch guitarist Markus Reuter: he knows how to assemble a band. And once he has everyone he needs in the room, he knows how to make the most of it. For this album, Reuter recruited bassist Fabio Trentini and drummer Asaf Sirkis. The three of them got together in Italy for two days, where they hit the “record” button and went for it, live. The resulting sounds are assembled here. Reuter is able to focus on his raw, aggressive leads and dreamy soundscapes. Trentini brings the stellar low end, producing a round tone that might remind one of Tony Levin. Sirkis is without a doubt one of the premiere drummers around. His grooves are solid and monstrous. The trio makes the most of every opportunity to play off one another, giving this proggiest of rock the occasional bit of subtle jazz swing. This record represents the difference between rock stars and musicians. There’s no doubting what we have here.
https://markusreuter.bandcamp.com/album/truce-3
SOFT WORKS, Abracadabra (2025). Let us first address the melancholy elephant in the room: none of the artists in this “all wheat, no chaff” lineup are with us anymore. Abracadabra is a loving tribute to a brilliant quartet smoldering together onstage in June of 2002. Elton Dean (sax and keys) and Allan Holdsworth (guitar and synthaxe) lead the charge — often in the most subtle of fashions — while Hugh Hopper’s bass and John Marshall’s drums lock down the grooves. This music is true fusion in both genre and interplay. The performances are nicely layered, giving each musician space in which to operate. Things never go over the top. There’s no need for any such grandstanding. The band found its comfort zone and relishes it. We should, too.
https://softmachine-moonjune.bandcamp.com/album/abracadabra-remastered-2-bonus-tracks
FRANK ZAPPA, Cheaper Than Cheep (2025). Editor’s Note: There is much, much more to this release, but the focus here is on the music. Technology can be a blessing and a burden. In June of 1974, Frank Zappa brought a trimmed-down version of his Roxy and Elsewhere Mothers of Invention into their rehearsal studio to record and film a two-hour show for a potential television special. Alas, for the second time in seven months the band’s magical musical performance refused to properly sync with its video component. The TV special was scrapped and the entire package sat in Zappa’s legendary vault for 50 years. Lucky for us, technology has finally caught up and the special is finally being “aired,” in a manner of speaking. At some point, one runs out of superlatives to describe the skillset of Zappa’s bands, particularly from this era. So, let’s whittle it down to a single word: staggering. Zappa’s band (including George Duke on keys, Napoleon Murphy Brock on sax and vocals, Ruth Underwood on percussion, Tom Fowler on bass, Chester Thompson on drums, and Jeff Simmons on guitar) was so well-honed, they could probably play these intense compositions backward. The mistakes Zappa heard by his own admission are all but impossible for the layman to detect. Tunes like “Inca Roads,” “RDNZL,” and “Cosmic Debris” have been slightly altered to accommodate the new lineup, but there is no slack to be picked up. The band is air-tight and on an intense version of cruise control. No need to worry … they got this! It’s a joy to have one more chance to let this band cook.
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