From kurt Sent Fri, Sep 10th 1999, 16:16
just got carl craig's innerzone orchestra 'programmed', and I'd have to say= it quite surprised me. as others have noted here, it's not consistent. but= my reaction after 24 hours and a couple listens is that the good stuff is= great, a very unlikely fusion of electronic sounds with live drumming and= (on a number of tracks) other live jazz players. the first few tracks a pretty rough going. there's a throwaway track= featuring a booming voice issuing the innerzone manifesto ('coltrane,= blakey,' etc.), followed by a rap track that I find painful to listen to.= but starting with track 5 ('eruption') things really take off (there are 14= tracks). in addition to the peculiar but satisfyling fusion numbers, some= tracks stray pretty far into jazz (70's/miles vein only quite a bit= shorter), as well as a great cover of a 70's (?) social realism ballad= (people make the world go round) replete with strings and flute. deep= flavors and a tendency to elude cliche. A very sophisticated ear at work= here, I think... I'm sure I have more stomach for jazz than many here; those that find it= anathema should definately steer clear. kurt