TriPod

The sound of the band is simply astonishing and unclassificable. My friends with a jazz show in the same station borrowed my cd and also played a couple of songs on their show. Pretty adventurous with a clear musical idea.

-Guillermo - Radio Educativa FM 104.1 (Mexico)

The awesome American trio TriPod, along with their debut album, has arrived and totally turned upside down my impressions of what a trio consisting of bass, sophisticated woodwinds (sax, flute & clarinet) and a drummer are able to do.

TriPod's music is absolutely stripped down, hard rock along with a lot of jazz, with a style somewhere between that of King Crimson and Morphine.The sax reminds us a good deal of Van Der Graff Generator and the bass playing is similar to John Wetton on steroids. ("Is it feasible?!" I think so.)

Their sound is absolutely concentrated and most of the songs are over 4 minutes, but the band puts a good deal of music in that amount of time. In addition, they present their songs with dynamic diversity that ranges from active insanity to calmer sections with vocal solo and whistle.

TriPod is a band that deserves to be heard.

-Trond Gjellum - Tarkus (Norway)

It is rare to find something of true value and yet have it increasingly hit you. And even more so in music. This TriPod CD, from an American band founded in 1999, is effectively something unexpected. The album is introduced in all its splendor from its first notes.

But let us go in order... The members of the group are Clint Bahr on lead vocals & bass player, Steve Romano on percussion, and Keith Gurland on woodwinds. As you may notice they are a trio and in case you are worried about the lack of instruments or the possible shortage of sound. You could not be more mistaken!

Indeed that hypothesis is strongly refuted by this trio that offers us a devastating wall of sound. This comes through a series of musical compositions (all original and written by the band) and they do not leave any empty spaces or moments of empty timbre. The sound flows incessantly and assaults the listener with violent but specific effectiveness. Comparisons can be made to the dignified music of the first King Crimson meets Van der Graaf Generator, while the exquisite sound of TriPod is a powerful voice on its own and an amalgam of the rest.

Their music is not essentially definable in a very precise canonical musical genre; it has ranges from jazz but is not jazz, to more extreme rock but it is also not rock, until arriving to tracks where electronic music stands out. It is simply classic progressive rock. The album is not smeared by any concessions, and ranges from eye-popping to tailored collective virtuosity.

TriPod's debut album, therefore, scores a bull's eye, exceeding expectations and surprising this reviewer with an original sound, a good recording and an ensemble that it has put to fruition all the potential and the timbre that can be obtained from a trio.

I add that it is difficult to believe that such a decidedly European sound was played and produced in the U.S.A.

-Gabriele Desole - Radionotte (Italy)

TriPod rocks, TriPod is loud, TriPod has an almost sexual energy in their songs (and I surely don't mean cuddly sex with elves).

The noisy, rattling rhythm section; the obscene (I can't think of a better word for it) saxophone that sounds so wonderfully indecent that you could picture yourself in the darkest, dirtiest part of a city, in a really bad gin palace; the very extroverted vocals are very seventies-alike to me... perhaps something between Steve Harley, Alex Harvey and Glamrock à la early Roxy Music.

TriPod perform raw music, without any twirls and creates in songs like "Conversation Drag" or "Dance Of The Kabuki" a strange, urbane, almost paranoid mood transposed in electrifying music.

Those who don't look in music only for the same old boring grace, harmony and beauty in perfection-attitude will probably discover something unexpected.

-Sal Pichireddu - Babyblaue-Seitan (Germany)

TriPod is a wake-up call to stagnant progressive rock. By that I mean, this NY-based power trio (drums, bass, sax) provides a dynamic often violent brand of modern fusion based music.

Steve Romano (drums) is by far one of the greatest drummers of this and any genre, hands down. He combines rock and jazz parts equally.

Keith Gurland works his alto & tenor saxophones into a frenzy, recalling some of the early horns of King Crimson in some ways.

To make this union complete, vocalist Clint Bahr’s vocal delivery is refreshing, with all the Collins, Gabriel, etc. clones rampant. His vocals alternate between a quirky Les Claypool style to a more straightforward style which reveals a very pleasant midrange voice when needed. Plus he plays 12-string bass. which make for a deep, growling tone that easily makes up for the lack of a a distorted 6-string guitar power chords. He is an unsung Bass God!

These three guys are undoubtly a progressive rock band; there are moments of subtlety and serenity, but these are overshadowed, in a good way!.

So if you want an aggressive power trio that is NOT rooted in the prog-metal genre then do yourself a big favor and pick up a copy today! You won’t regret it!

~Ron - ProgNaut (USA)

TriPod appears as a succession of sounds and the total absence of guitars and pianos replaced by the woodwinds of Keith Gurland.

An aggressive fusion that bursts in into scene with Steve Romano on percussion and Clint Bahr on vocals and bass.

Fusion of unique and progressive force. A shining American surprise of unquestionable quality with an enormous future.

-Carlos Ortiz - Mundo Rock Zero (Panama)

When the press release informed me that TriPod was a trio employing the services of neither a guitarist nor a keyboard player I was intrigued.

TriPod are more in the King Crimson league as the Schizoid-like power of the opener 'Jerome's Spotlight' testifies. The nearest comparison may be the mighty Crimso but TriPod does have a unique sound (although reminiscent at times of some early 70s music I couldn't quite identify) defined by Clint Bahr's 12 string bass and Keith Gurland's alto and tenor sax, flute and clarinet.

Early on I heard shades of Dave Jackson in his playing but there are many influences at work here I suspect.

A strength of TriPod is the atmosphere to the music and the "You walk the walk and talk the talk' chorus of 'No Diamond Cries', one of two Gurland compositions on the album (Bahr writes all the lyrics), is simply irresistible.

Just to confirm the spontaneous excellence of the band there are two live studio improvisations. No problems with the realisation of ideas on the closing song, the seven minute 'As The Sun', the most prog rock track on the album and one that approaches the intensity of Anekdoten.

Do yourself a favour and find out what all the fuss is about!

-Zeitgeist - Zeitgeist (Scotland)

A new comer from New York City. The trio's instrumentation is Drums / Bass & Vocals / Sax, Flute, Clarinet - TriPod has a punchy aggressive attitude.

The bassist's use of bass pedals, and his utilizing the high & low end of the 12-string bass gives the band a thicker sound (as if there were a guitar player).

Also the drummmer adds extra (programmed like) timbre by using electric percussion effectively.

The sax/wind player handles both the tight unison phrasing and also the freaky blow outs.

As a whole they handle a lot of tricky rhythm patterns effectively, yet manage to keep accessibility in the music (with even a pop feeling sometimes).

Asano Atsushi
Translation courtesy Nakanishi Nobuhisa
- Euro Rock Press Magazine (Japan)

It is intriguing that this CD was produced without the aid of guitars and keyboards. Also, in truth, while listening to this great and bombástic offering, one does not feel the lack thereof, a feat not easy to accomplish I believe.

TriPod is a power trio whose unusual configuration, consists of vocals, 12-string bass, bass pedals (Clint Bahr), acoustic and electronic percussion (Steve Romano) and a wind section that includes alto and tenor sax, flute, clarinet and pedals (Keith Gurland).

It is Keith's sound that grants that "special enchantment" to this work: without a doubt, very rich spaces, forms, textures and atmospheres. They really surprise the listener.

Definitively we are hearing experienced, professional and expert musicians at their art. TriPod is a success without a doubt.

TriPod consists of 14 tracks, 2 of which are live studio improvisations which cast no doubt on the abilities of the musicians.

TriPod voyages through the lands of Jazz-Rock, Jazz-Fusion and Progressive Rock (avant-garde). We hear passages that remind us of King Crimson in their jazzy "Lizard" stage, and of Soft Machine and Van Der Graaf Generator and continue on until we arrive at the mythic John Coltrane.

TriPod is their first release...and we are already waiting for their second.

Highly recommendable.

TriPod is on my top ten list of BEST 2003´s albums. Period!!!

-Tomas Casanova
- Musica Progressiva (Costa Rica)

With a trio I always thought that there wasn¹t a great deal that could be done with the band format, but I was wrong. TriPod comprise Steve Romano (percussion), Keith Gurland (alto & tenor sax, flute, clarinet, pedals, backing vox) and Clint Bahr (lead vocals, 12 string bass and bass pedals). This certainly gives the band a different musical outlook on life, and one in which they have to work extremely hard to maintain interest without either keyboards or guitar to keep it going. When I was first reading about this I was a little concerned that it was either going to be boring or unlistenable ­ I was wrong on both counts.

As long as you don¹t mind trying some jazz that is out of the ordinary, then this is quite a find. Steve holds the backline together virtually on his own, as Clint is sometimes with him but often is to be found playing a counter melody so that Keith has something to pitch against. That Keith has to provide the main aural point is never in doubt. Clint has a voice that seems better suited to rock, and this in itself provides a calming influence to proceedings. The overall effect is that of a band refusing to conform to any norms, and produces music that is challenging yet is invigorating and exciting. - Feedback Fanzine (UK)