Dannyjohnmd

From Australia comes the debut release from The Danny John Trio entitled "Mr. Twister." This three-piece instrumental rock band is lead by the high octane shredding of Danny John along with the rhythm section of Marcos Gil on bass and James Dennett on drums. While their sound may be considered progressive hard rock/jazz, their skills are nothing to question as displayed in the nine-minute opener "Drift." The music gets a little funkier on the follow-up track "Would," while the title song really allows John to flex his fingers on the Van Halen-sounding instrumental. The band showcases a little more of their progressive jazz fusion side on the radio edit of "Badland," before closing with the quick, energetic pace of "Lighthouse." To find out more about The Danny John Trio, please visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/dannyjohntrio.

Virtuoso musicians, Danny John (guitar), Marcos Gil (bassist) and drummer James Dennett – The Danny John Trio - have created a strange brew of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Van Halen and even some jazz fusion. The exciting Mr. Twister lives up to its name. The album is full of sonic highs and euphoric squelching. What surprised me the most as a reviewer were the subtle change ups and keen storytelling. Each song felt different and evoked an array of images.
“Drift” is an intense, crunchy-guitar driven track. The chords are aggressive, yet, slide alongside an imaginary line of fun and blissful chaos. This was my favorite track of the group.
“Would” feels melodic and airy. The title track has a catchy baseline; the song builds momentum and then drops into a smoother rider. This is all guitar! “Whole” escapes to a more jazz/bluesy space. There’s a crunchy, dark scratching shred that is a distraction, but the changing fusion landscape is interesting.
“Predilection” is an insanely-fun track. It’s trippy and takes a bite at you!
The Danny John Trio writes that “Badland is a song about a journey into Living Dreams, complete isolation, desolation, purgatory and the never ending quest for unattainable tranquillity, perfection, recognition and ultimately, peace.” I would agree. “Badland” feels lazy in the sense it lets your mind wanter aimlessly; the guitar captains the numbing. The guitar slowly builds and expands the colors like a spilled can of paint. It’s beautiful.
“Lighthouse” to me had the most percussion. The quick tempo and rapid feel made for an awe-inspiriting experience.
Overall, the Danny John Trio deliver an A grade for the impressive Mr. Twister. Fans of Steve Vai, guitar instrumentation and melodic rock will find something they like.

It’s fusion, Jim, but not as we know it. Mind altering jazz-metal for the thinking music aficionado.
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Opening with the spiky ‘Drift’, it’s immediately clear that this is a band that ventures into the unusual, the experimental, and on occasion the downright bonkers. The track’s frenetic and splintered riffing skitters madly throughout its nine minutes of madness before coming to a shockingly abrupt end, leading into the warbly deep tones of ‘Would’, where the guitar works intandem with the sly bass work, and by the end things wander into a dreamy Miles Davis style noodling. By this point it becomes quite obvious that this isn’t really going the be the most mainstream or accessible of recordings, but its going to be a goldmine for anyone with a musically open mind, who will no doubt relish the metal-jazz-funk fusion that’s on offer here. The title track, ‘Mr Twister’ shifts playfully between softer and louder tones, echoing the post rock tradition of quiet-loud-quiet-loud, but here the Danny John Trio manages to deliver their own take on that method, dousing it in metal and giving the whole thing a damn good shake. This is an album that delivers on so many levels, with plenty of rabbit holes to get lost in, so let Mr Twister carry you away.
http://www.dannyjohn.net
By Chris Marsh

Many instrumental guitar trios capably blend jazz, rock and blues elements,but the one led by Australian guitarist Danny John takes a harder stance. With feet firmly planted on the metallic side of the fence, John, bassist Marcos Gil and drummer James Dennett occasionally dip a toe into other genres through tempo shifts, key changes and dynamics to create a compelling Down Under variation of instrumental rock that's suitably bottom-heavy.
Three years of studying at the Musicians Institute of Technology in Hollywood, CA, and rubbing elbows with Tribal Tech's co-founding guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Gary Willis, trained John to think further outside the box. Drift, the opening track to his Aussie trio's latest CD, Mr. Twister, starts out with a thunderous guitar riff before serpentining into 7/4 half-time and 7/8 double-time meters.
The subsequent Would lightens the mood a touch through its waltzing cadence, although John's burning solos -- in both the main theme and frantic midsection -- hardly conjure up images of ballroom dancing. John, Gil and Dennert seem to try to skirt standard 4/4 time whenever possible, and make a shell game of the meter in the epic title track. With its multiple sections and array of guitar tones, the extended piece hints at Canadian rock trio Rush without bassist Geddy Lee's high-pitched vocals.

Whole flirts with the blues, albeit in 9/8 time, and offers jazz nuances through John's nimble, often abstract picking and Gil's solo. Dennett then takes the spotlight. The drummer's middle break is a lesson in double-bass drum footwork and limb independence, and his pacing also keeps the funky-yet-frenetic, 4/4-timed Predilection from spiraling out of control.
The opening atmospherics of Badland work through the unorthodox note choices by Gil, yet the near-ballad goes into overdrive sections as well. And the closing Lighthouse, after Dennert's muscular intro, features not only another statement-making Gil solo but a theme that constantly changes keys.
John's playing and compositional prowess collectively echo guitarists from rocker Steve Vai to fellow Aussie fusion artist Frank Gambale, and bands from Rush to Georgia instrumental rock icons the Dixie Dregs. Clearly, there's a new thunder Down Under.
Bill Meredith Abstractlogix