OUTSIDE PEDESTRIAN: Sunless City

Outside Pedestrian

Sunless City

© 2001 Outside Pedestrian

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Outside Pedestrian blurs the great divide between musical genres creating instrumental music rooted in tradition but focused on today. Drawing influences from the an array of stylistic sources including jazz, rock, blues, and chamber music.

tracks

1 Motherhood
2 Tower One
3 Clear
4 Tweaked
5 Power Tools
6 Climbing
7 The Sunless City
8 Twenty Nine
9 Ulterior Motive

notes

Outside Pedestrian blurs the great divide between musical genres creating instrumental music rooted in tradition but focused on today. Outside Pedestrian brings to the table an eclectic mix of influences, and recording and performing experiences, giving Outside Pedestrian a Modern Jazz sound that excites and challenges their listeners.

reviews

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  • A ***GREAT*** Jazz CD!
    author: T. House Brinkman

    I'm surprised that Outside Pedestrian is not at the forefront of modern jazz music! Never before have I heard a group--jazz, rock, whatever--where the overall sound is so diverse, yet distinctive! I can only regret that this group didn't stay together longer while wondering what drove them apart. (Dave Lockeretz's explanation was vague to say the least, not to mention the explatives.) I encountered Outside Pedestrian through bassist David Lockeretz, whom I heard with his new band, Pacific Standard Quartet, at Lunaria. While I dug the diversity of PSQ, I must admit that they lacked the energy and soul I heard evident on this CD. Guitarist Anthony Fesmire is a virtuoso and his compoisitions reflect a depth and sophistication unlike any other jazz musicians out there. Drummer David Kontesz knows how to rock as well as swing, and he is masterful both in understatement and forthrightness. (Is that a real word?) And as for David Lockertz, my guide to Outside Pedestrian--what else is there to say? I have heard NO OTHER BASSIST pull off the stuff that D-Lock does on both electric and upright--if there is any bassist on the planet who can groove harder, swing harder and rock harder, I'd love to hear him or her. Anyhow, Outside Pedestian might not be around anymore, but this great CD is a testament to their brilliance. Buy it--please!

  • These Guys Are For Real!
    author: J.p. Moore

    I had darn near given up on jazz until I happened to catch Outside Pedestrian at Borders in Canoga, CA. I have heard a lot of jazz in the San Fernando Valley and the rest of the L.A. area and often times the players are technically accomplished but lacking in soul and originality. Well, with O.P., you get the soul and originality--and a lot of technique too, for the record. These guys can definitely play. Anthony Fesmire is the guitarist. He seems to be just as comfortable with tasteful, Jim Hall/Pat Metheney type chord-melody improvisation as he does with John McLaughlin-syle shredding. His four compositions on the album are in diverse style, ranging from straight-ahead rock to swing to modern 3/4 ballad to, well, pretty much metal. Similarly, bassist David Lockeretz reflects a similar diversity. He grooves and solos with equal ease, sounding like he has absorbed the influences of Jimmy Haslip, James Jamerson and Rick Laird (and others) without sounding too much like any of them. He composed the title cut, which is probably the most rocking song on the album, and "Twenty Nine" which is probably the prettiest. David Kontesz is a drummer to be reckoned with. As demonstrated on the album's slower songs, he has an abstract, almost ECM-ish way of laying down the time in which the feel flows evenly without being obvious. But as shown on the funky "Power Tools", he can slam a groove with the best of 'em too. There is a lot to like about this CD. Yeah, it's jazz in the broad sense, but Pedestrian dabbles in so many styles-- Latin, funk, post-bop, rock and blues--that it's hard to categorize them. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these tunes pop up in the (legal) Real Book Volume 4 (or whatever number they're on now.)

  • Pedestrian Strikes Back!
    author: Jon Dowling

    Smooth jazz fans, beware! The Southern California jazz trio that gave us "Pedestrian Crossing" two years ago is back with a vengeance! Guitarist Anthony Fesmire and bassist David Lockeretz return with new drummer David Kontesz (a dramatic improvement) and guests Joe Bagg (organ) and Matt Zebley (sax) also lay it down. The band's CD "Sunless City" is considerably more intense than their previous release, "Pedestrian Crossing." While their first album had several rock-influenced tunes, the majority of it was mellow. This second CD pumps up the energy level. Songs like "Tweaked", "Tower One" and the title cut rock as hard as Zeppelin--yet they also have the unpredictability and complex harmonies of modern jazz. Meanwhile, gentler pieces like "Climbing" and "Twenty Nine" provide interludes of relaxation. Also the album features two modern swing tunes: "Motherhood" and "Ulterior Motive." Even those two songs are different: "Motherhood" goes back and forth between fast swing and half time; "Ulterior Motive" features an ostinato instead of a traditional walking bass line. Anybody who was not converted by Pedestrian's first CD will certainly wise up to this band with a listen to "Sunless City." It's severe.

  • A Step in the Right Direction
    author: George Bishop

    It's kind of nice to see that not every modern instrumental jazz trio panders to commercialism (Kenny G), has to be listened to on acid to be appreciated (MMW) or rehashes the past with no creativity (Wynton/Redman.) What we have with Outside Pedestrian is a group that knows, at turns, how to rock, and how to understate. I was first exposed to this trio at the Back to the Grind coffee house in Riverside, CA, and found their CD to be a satisfying continuation of their live act. Guitarist Anthony Fesmire shows potential to be one of the next leading names in jazz fusion; he is equal parts Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny and Edward Van Halen. Drummer David Kontesz describes the abstract modern rhythmic conception of Erskine and De Johnette; yet he can also lay down a funk groove almost worthy of the Meters. Bassist David Lockeretz is perhaps the weak link in the group; at times he seems to be trying too hard to disprove his skin color. Clearly influenced by Steely Dan's bassists such as Miller and Rainey, had he not grown up in an upper class Massachusetts neighborhood, Lockeretz would undoubtedly make the grade. Compositionally, "Sunless City" is an interesting amalgam. It is definitely the credit of Pedestrian that no two songs are the same: the styles range from modern swing jazz to funk to progressive rock to ballads. Guitarist Fesmire's compositions "Tweaked" and "Tower One" epitomize the guitarist's controlled modernism; particularly the latter, in which a ferocious metal groove erupts out of a seemingly innocuous reggae confection. Lockeretz's compositions exhibit the influence of the Yellowjackets and Weather Report, yet fail to effectively assimilate the inevitible historical perspective that, if paradoxically, all forward-looking art embodies. While his song "Power Tools" (featuring the tantalizing B-3 work of Joe Bagg) exhibits a certain economy, if lack of taste, and while "Sunless City" demonstrates a profound knowledge of the early work of Jethro Tull, ponderous works such as "Clear" and "Twenty Nine" are embarassing; that Massachusetts thing is just too obvious, bro. This is the work of a jazz trio who, perhaps, has yet to hit their stride, but undoubtedly has a lot of potential. Any way you slice it, Outside Pedestrian is a band to watch out for.

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