Artist: James Sudakow Album: Green Label: Private Release Website: http://www.evexp.com Reviewer: Bill Knispel

Tracklisting: black purple orange GREEN red blue James Sudakow is a classically trained violinist (since the age of 4) who draws upon electric guitarists such as Dave Navarro and Vernon Reid as influences. His latest release, Green, is a heavy and heady mix of pounding, often tribal rhythms and intense electric violin workouts that will leave the listener breathless on completion. Sudakow is joined on this album by a solid rhythm section featuring David Gaziel on drums (both acoustic and electronic sounds are heard on Green) and long time session bassist Matt Bissonette (Joe Satriani, David Lee Roth, Julian Lennon, Steve Perry, Brian Wilson, Don Henley, Ty Tabor, Peter Frampton, among others). Bissonette and Gaziel are responsible for creating thick, pounding , rock-solid foundations for Sudakow’s electrifying violin explorations, and they handle this task with masterful skill. Sudakow himself is impressive, mixing Celtic and Arabic influences with a touch of classical tradition, tossing it all through thick layers of distortion and effects to create a tone that can easily be mistaken for an electric guitar. Album opener “black” is a stomper of a track, with a pounding industrial beat and Sudakow’s keening violin soaring above the mechanical rhythms. Heavily Arabic in timbre, the track propels the listener forward inexorably before de-evolving in a wall of distorted feedback. “purple” is a more laid back track, Sudakow’s violin rising and falling in the mix as Gaziel and Bissonette create a mellow beat. Gaziel breaks the beat apart with well placed cymbal crashes, while Sudakow’s hive of bees violin mournfully wails an elegiac tune. “orange,” on the other hand, showcases a more traditional violin tone while Matt Bissonette’s loping, massive bass line battles for auditory dominence. The perhaps intentionally limited tonal selection does lead to a bit of similarity from track to track; it’s hard, in a trio format, to continually mine new veins for sonic changes. This is helpfully balanced by the album’s shorter playtime; at 45:39, Green is not diminished by the limitations of sound and offers up a nice taste of the group’s (and Sudakow’s) abilities without overstaying its welcome. Personally, I’d love to hear James Sudakow in a larger band environment, where his violin might work with and against other lead/melodic instruments. I think the tension and interplay would make for some exciting musical moments, and I believe that Sudakow is more than capable of holding his own against almost any lead musician in any instrumental/fusion/rock band today. Green is a fun, intense instrumental release, economical in length and arrangement, and a solid calling card announcing Sudakow as an instrumentalist to look out for. Band Members: James Sudakow – electric violins David Gaziel – drums Matt Bissonette – bass guitar