Chad Wackerman - Scream (1999)

Tracklist

01 - Scream
02 - Between the Dog and the Wolf
03 - The City
04 - Looking In
05 - Days Gone By
06 - Timeless
07 - Cycles
08 - The Way Out
09 - Holland
10 - The Grey Chair
11 - My Two Worlds
12 - Youse from Here?

personnel :

Chad Wackerman - drums, percussion
Walt Fowler - flugelhorn
Daryl Pratt - vibraphone, synthesizer, percussion
Jim Cox - piano, organ, synthesizer
James Muller - guitar
Leon Gaer - bass

After serving a longer tenure under music legend Frank Zappa than any other drummer, Chad Wackerman's abilities as a world-class drumming ace will be forever secure. SCREAM, his third release as a leader, further expands on this reputation and includes his inventive composing skills as well. Wackerman's earthy slipstream drumming, extremely agile while remaining solidly powerful, serves to compliment the colorfully eclectic pieces that are collected here. His assembled ensemble, which features guitarist James Muller and vibraphonist Daryl Pratt in the majority of the lead roles, is a crack team of electric jazz pros who pull off amazing fetes of musical expression.
Wackerman is an entire ensemble himself, of course, as he is able to orchestrate intensely artistic statements on his drums that form the basis for the melodic inventions that are created on top. Also included are some intriguing solo spots for the drummer like the expressive "Looking In" and the Zappa-esque "The Grey Chair." Elsewhere, electronic textures and worldly percussion meld into a poetic mix with numerous angular melodies to tie them together. Guiding it all is Wackerman's forward-reaching drumming.