We all know Terry Bozzio for his drumming with Steve Vai, Jeff Beck, and Frank Zappa, as well as leading Missing Persons, his many drum clinics and his one-man drum performances on his massive 100-piece set. Terry Bozzio is also a composer of considerable wide ranging talents, as is evident on his four-CD package, Terry Bozzio Composer Series.
The CDs, titled Fusion 1, Fusion 2, Classic and Ambient, are filled with wild flights of instrumentals, sweet melodies and Bozzio’s innovative percussion. There are wooden block flights mixed with buzzing synth leads on “North 101,” full fusion work-outs like “Marked Man.”
The Classic disc gives us the sprawling synth interplay of “East,” the quick running of “The Courier” and a full array of Bozzio’s compositions with a layering of various instruments, least of all piano. There’s gems like “Yon wa no Karasu (4 Crows)” with its gong and bells, “Perception Of Honesty” with its simple and, at times, heartbreaking layering of pianos and synth backing.
“Alone” ends with a “blurping” synth and dramatic piano runs and strikes — a stark and heavy way to end the collection, but with real feeling. The Ambient disc is not just ambient bleeps and quarks, as with all we get here Bozzio presents very well thought-out, emotionally moving tunes. You get lots of sides of this exceptional musician and artist on Terry Bozzio Composer Series.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
