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Reviews |
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Dajinosaurus 2007-03-31 I wasn't quite sure what to make of David Wright's Dajinosaurus CD. The cover art consists of a goofy canine mug shot, the credits are cluttered with production notes, which seem to indicate that the drums and guitars were recorded in different places and times, and the title of the CD is spelled in two different ways on the inlay cards. Despite its amateurish appearance, Dajinosaurus is a fine CD Wright is a Berklee-educated guitarist and composer who bounced from Boston to New York and landed in Oakland, California with an IT job. Despite that day gig, Wright is far more than a hobbyist or weekend warrior. Dajinosaurus reveals a fluid, confident, even masterful guitarist, albeit one heavily influenced by the likes of Allan Holdsworth, Bill Connors and Mike Stern The music on Dajinosaurus is upbeat, loose-limbed, energetic jazzy fusion that reminds me quite a bit of the LPs Bill Connors did for the Pathfinder label during the late 80s. Not just a fusion shredder, Wright's approach also belies influences from the previous generation of guitar heroes, players such as Wes Montgomery, Grant Green and George Benson. This is most apparent on the elegant, ECM-ish "Throb" and the R&B inflected "GC." Wright's bandmates, bassist Nob Kinukawa and drummer Jim Bove, are excellent. Both feed off of Wright's joyous, irrepressible guitar soloing. Bove rolls and splashes around like a good fusion drummer should. He is also an alert, sensitive player who provides a deep pocket throughout. Kinukawa meshes well with Bove and cuts loose most impressively on several tracks, though his MIDI setup has a tinny, brittle sound. He sounds best, as on the intro to "Throb," when he solos without the MIDI effects. Wright uses his MIDI setup sparingly, generating mostly unobtrusive keyboard-like sounds. The compositions, while not overly complex, are substantial enough to serve some purpose other than providing a framework for Wright's aggressive guitar soloing. On the other hand, a few pieces ("Falls Dance" and "Early Phrase" or "ILD" and "Chess") have overt similarities that lead to listener fatigue over the hour-plus length of the CD. Other tracks, notably "Babar's Kingdom" and the two closing improvisations, seem like little more than filler. Some judicious editing would have served "Dajinosaurus" quite well. As a guitar soloist, David Wright definitely has what it takes to make fusion fans sit up and take notice, even in today's very crowded and chaotic music scene. While the playing on Dajinosoaurus is technically impressive, it's also quite apparent that Wright and his trio really had a lot of fun making this CD. Their sense of joy comes through in their effervescent, energetic, old-school jazz-rock fusion. Despite a few flaws, Dajinosaurus will put a smile on your face. Tracks: Time Constraint; Falls Dance; Early Phrase Intro; Early Phrase; Throb; Tears for Friends; ILD Intro (live); ILD; GC Intro (Bar Noise); GC; Chess; Bedtime Bridges Intro; Bedtime Bridges; piggasaurus; This To This To; club owner comment; Barbar's Kingdom; Improv I; Improv II 
Dajinosaurus Review at jazz review.com |
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Dajinosaurus 2007-02-10 Jazz guitarist David Wright's debut recording, Dajinosaurus, is one of the most enjoyable jazz/ fusion releases I've had the pleasure to hear. I'm rather new into this genre and so far I've been treated to greats such as David. His music injects some humor into it which lets you know he's out to have a good time music wise. His playing runs the gambit between Alan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin, Steve Vai and so many others but with out sounding like any of them. David's music while rooted in jazz, does venture into some guitar rock and progressive rock territories. The end result is a great album that deserves to stand alongside other jazz/fusion albums of the past and present. I would recommend this to the aforementioned artists. Ron Fuchs Full Review of Dajinosaurus |
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Dajinosaurus 2007-01-04 This trio undertaking should rouse some interest for hardcore jazz-fusion aficionados. Guitarist David Wright's debut is a sprightly one. Indeed, fans of Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth and other guitar elitists should take note. Wright has absorbed the genre credibly, evidenced by these nineteen workouts. With in-the-pocket grooves, shifts in tempo and numerous improvisational jaunts, the trio performs with vim, vigor and monster chops. Wright inflicts some hurt on his electric and Midi-guitars via brisk, legato phrasings and ascending single-note flurries. He employs distortion, odd-tunings and jazzy chord voicings to augment his attack. Wright and his band-mates deliver an action-packed, yet not overbearing string of events. It all flows rather well. Glenn Astarita, "New & Noteworthy" |
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Dajinosaurus 2006-12-02 Those who have long followed the work of any half-decent reviewer of rock music are sooner or later bound to know the one axiom of guitar albums: they rarely succeed. The law is in fact so well-known that it becomes almost kitsch for below-average critics to rag on guitar heroes just because they're expected to and can get away with it. That's right, the theoretical album could be the lost jewel of the Nile, and most reviewers who do not work for a guitar magazine or similar outlets will kill it anyway. But not here, ladies and gentlemen. No siree. And it ain't because we're special, or because you're special, although you are. It's because it appears that it took David Wright a long time before he could put his Dajinosaurus album together, and he deserves a fair shot. Let's give it to the man. Well, for starters, Wright is not one of those God-awful speed demons who become either random-tone generators or scale sequencers as soon as the gun goes off. Thank God. We all know that we don't need another one of those. Unfortunately, however, his guitar soloing does seem to lack a bit of direction here and there, which becomes apparent once the listener gets to the middle of the opening 'Time Constraint.' While the individual pieces of Wright's guitar fancies have some rather meaty moments on occasion, they simply lack continuity between themselves. In fact, this guitarist's faster moments are at their best when used for dexterous arrangements of a shorter duration, such as in 'Chess' and the blistering and more Steve Morse-like 'This To This To.' And that's that for the soloing. Here's the rest of the package: While never offensive or truly bland, the instrumentals on Dajinosaurus lack a certain joie de vivre that, save for the aforementioned 'This To This To' and perhaps the charming sweetness of 'Barbars Kingdom,' seems to be sorely needed. There simply isn't anything truly spectacular to point out. Ah, well. That's not entirely true. 'This To This To' is pretty damn rocking, which you can probably deduce from the fact that I've already written about it thrice. And the Steve Buscemi-like comedy of the subsequent 'Club Owner Comment' is simply brilliant. I never get tired of it, and chances are not many others will either. Otherwise, however, it's pretty much as by-the-book mid-tempo fusion as it gets. Same goes for Jim Bove and Nob Kinukawa, who competently back up Wright's efforts and provide the intermittent morsel of tasty activity here and there, but not much else. And true, one could partially blame the bland production of the record or the unfortunate choice of MIDI sounds that don't quite cut it, but the true reason why Dajinosaurus will go by largely unheeded is its instrumentals. While there are nice little details like upward chromatic sequences and interesting chord swells scattered throughout, it ends up feeling like one is listening to the same track over and over again by the end. Certainly not an execrable outing in the realms of guitar music, but nothing to call your friends about either, David Wright's debut is simply a rather commonplace affair by today's standards, and thus a likely casualty of the numbers game. Let's wait and see if the tide changes next time around. Tracklisting: Time Constraint (6:22) / Falls Dance (5:36) / Early Phrase Intro (0:52) / Early Phrase (4:20) / Thob (Tears For Friends Intro) (1:24) / Tears For Friends (4:29) / ILD Intro (Live) (0:29) / ILD (4:59) / GC Intro (Bar Noise) (0:14) / GC (7:27) / Chess (5:41) / Bedtime Bridges Intro (2:08) / Bedtime Bridges (5:32) / Piggasaurus (This To Intro) (0:25) / This To This To (5:15) / Club Owner Comment (0:44) / Barbars Kingdom (0:44) / Improv I (1:53) / Improv II (1:56) Musicians: David Wright - guitar, MIDI guitar Nob Kinukawa - MIDI bass, piccolo bass Jim Bove - drums Discography: Dajinosaurus (2006) Genre: Fusion-Jazz Fusion Origin US Marcelo Silveyra at prog world |
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Dajinosaurus 2006-10-12 Congrats on a really strong jazz rock fusion release! I get a healthy dose of wannabe-fusion & DIY eclectic rock CDs sent to us and just plain sorry releases touted as fusiony-rockish projects but Dajinsaurus really jumped out of the speakers at me today in that 'Oh yeah, this is the stuff' way. I am recommending you right now to FuseNet fusion members and will be spinning tracks from your CD for certain on our next show at the globally popular JazzRock-Radio.com streaming radio gig -- and yes, feel free quote me! Strong recommendations! ~ John W. Patterson of JazzRock-Radio.com and EER-MUSIC.com |
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Dajinosaurus 2006-09-08 My sinceres congratulations fort such an impressive piece of work!!! Man...you are a real guitar player...a very gifted and talented one. Your technical skills are amazing..and the compositions are so damn good! There is a great alchemy between all the musicians in the band...definitelly The production is great too! |
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Dajinosaurus 2006-12-21 A virtuosic performance Guitarist David Wright's debut recording, Dajinosaurus, (July 2006 - Dinosaurus Records DR 001) let us discover a gifted sound craftsman. There is a lot of variety on this album: soaring guitar solos, dynamic improvisations reminiscent of McLaughlin, lyrical melodic effects, aerial textures fused with more dense, passionate, rockish progressive sonorities. The overall concept is perfect balanced keeping the listener curious until the end of the album. JazzWorldQuest |
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Dajinosaurus 2006-06-23 Wow man -- what a disc! I'm blown away! I hope you sell a ton of them... you deserve to. I'm going to put a bunch of tracks out on the station over the next few days. 'I absolutely love Time Constraint!' Fusion Groovin |
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Dajinosaurus 2006-10-01 I was amazed at the samples I heard of your music on Guitar9,... especially 'ILD' and 'This Two This Two',... When I say 'I was amazed at the samples', you can multiply that amazement by 3. Falls Dance totally rocked, know I know why there are a lot of Allan Holdsworth comparisons,... I'd say your music was a mix of Bill Connors and Allan Holdsworth.... |
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Dajinosaurus 2006-08-12 amazing, amazing, amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great job. i know what is like to fight for a dream to become reality and this was worth ever hook and jab. a perfect blend of musicianship and technique. ASI |
Roar!
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