Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins

Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins - Dancing - 2000 - Exowax Recordings

You've got to admire a guy as restlessly creative as Mike Keneally. He felt he wasn't a very good improviser, so he started hanging out with Henry Kaiser and the free improv crowd in order to push himself toward improvising. He wanted another creative outlet, so he took up painting. After three studio albums and one live album, essentially in a trio format, he cut Nonkertompf completely by himself, playing every instrument. What to do next? How about expanding his working band, Beer for Dolphins, from a trio to an octet? That's exactly what he did, adding sax, trumpet, keys, mallet percussion, and a second guitar to his guitar, bass, and drums lineup. The results are somewhat mixed. As always, Keneally is as eclectic as ever, and some of these tunes are as catchy as anything he's put out. "We'll Be Right Back" is kind of a resigned, low-key rant that features an absolutely majestic guitar solo. "Joe" has a serious Steely Dan vibe, while the clunky riff that kicks off the album on "Live in Japan" recalls early XTC with hooks aplenty. The problem is that with such a large band the arrangements can be very busy, nearly claustrophobic at times, and it takes a lot of listening effort to sort out what's going on. That type of effort is ultimately rewarding, but not every listener wants to listen that attentively. Also, the mere presence of mallet percussion draws too many comparisons to Keneally's former mentor (Frank Zappa), justified or not. That being said, this is a crack band able to play through Keneally's often idiosyncratic tunes seemingly with the greatest of ease. Dancing is a bit of a departure for Keneally. There are some excellent tracks, to be sure, but this probably isn't the place to start. © Sean Westergaard © 2012 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/dancing-mw0000620354

Sometimes it seems that actual human feeling, conveyed through passionate musicianship and songwriting, is all but absent in popular music nowadays. Mike Keneally is thrilled to prove otherwise with his eighth album, "Dancing". Mike has invited Beer For Dolphins, his masterful eight-piece band, into the studio to lay down nearly 80 minutes of the most gleefully adventurous, yet heartfelt, Keneally music ever. This album is truly a feast for the ears. While 1999's acclaimed Keneally solo release "Nonkertompf" was an instrumental album, "Dancing" is mainly based around songs with vocals. Keneally here delivers highly emotional vocal performances which may come as a surprise to a lot of people. The style of the album's 20 tracks veers from upbeat pop to free-form improv, introspective balladry to ferocious rock raveups, Beach Boys and Bacharach sugariness to utter uncategorizability and beyond. Yet it all hangs together, thanks to the powerful and freewheeling sound of Beer For Dolphins, and the personal quality of Keneally's composing. © 1996-2012 Guitar Nine Records All Rights Reserved http://www.guitar9.com/dancingmk.html

There's only one Mike Keneally. No, wait, there are dozens. There's Keneally the pop auteur, whose songs flutter and jab with ecstatic melody. There's Keneally the exhortative vocalist, one moment a supple balladeer, the next a heavy-metal hellion. What about Keneally the bandleader, a multi-instrumental octopus running the show with dazzling wit and profound musical charisma? And please, don't forget the guitar hero's guitar hero. Mike Keneally is a staggering talent who believes rock should aim straight for the soul. His lyrics are often hilarious, occasionally moving into personal unburdenings, spun around sounds that underscore the emotions at hand. With so much depth and history (and appearances with everyone from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to Sting to Roseanne to Frank Zappa), it seems a stretch that he lands so squarely in the realm of the radio-ready. Equally unexpected is that he'd veer back into mainstream territory after last year's unaccompanied studio adventure Nonkertompf, and in so doing, be poised to approach the brilliance of 1997?s Sluggo!, a masterwork that raised the bar for willfully eccentric pop.Dancing finds every piston pumping. Keneally's strengths and emotional outreach are focused into a 20-song barrage of unhinged artistry harnessed as tight, riotous, and heartfelt rock. With wild tunes like "Ragged Ass" and subtle mysteries like the title cut, it conjures an array of pleasures; the epic "Pretty Enough for Girls" moves from anthemic to cinematic surrealism. With the rhythmically surprising "Joe," he beats the crooner's art at its own game.This is arresting modern rock, a bold step forward for an artist who's been garnering the awe of his forebears, from XTC to Ween to Queen to one-time employer Zappa - a notoriously exacting chap who dubbed Keneally "the best new guy who's ever been in the band." Replace "band" with "business," and you've nailed the guitarist for 2000. Dancing will get you doing just that: Listen while cooking and you'll burn dinner, listen while driving and you'll miss your exit. But do listen. © Matt Resnicoff, VH1.com, October, 2000

Ex-Zappa guitarist, Mike Keneally is an extraordinary musician and composer. Since 1992, the vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and multi - instrumentalist has recorded over 20 albums of music of remarkable inventiveness and originality. He provided vocals, guitar and keyboards in Frank Zappa's last touring band and appeared on numerous Zappa albums. He has also played keyboards with the Joe Satriani Band, and has performed and/or recorded with artists that include Robert Fripp, Kevin Gilbert, Steve Vai, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, The Persuasions and many more. He is noted for his innovative, and often unpredictable live shows. All Music Guide stated that "Keneally is the leading progressive rock genius of the post-Zappa era." The current Mike Keneally Band includes bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok), and guitarist Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Byrd York). Time Out New York says "this band, with such a peculiar genius leading it, is a thing to savour." Steve Vai has said that "Bryan Beller is the most intuitive and responsive bass player I have ever played with. He has impossible ears and everything he plays sounds like music." Mike Keneally, Bryan Beller and Co. play twenty often complex but deeply grooving progressive rock, pop, and jazz fusion tracks, displaying fire and precision. "Dancing" is an impressive album, and VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out detailed info. about this album @ http://www.keneally.com/discography/dancing.html Buy Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins' brilliant "Half Alive in Hollywood" album and/or Bryan Beller's great "Thanks In Advance" album. Check this blog for other Mike Keneally releases [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: 2 x rar files: Pt 1 (Tracks 1-8) = 94.7 Mb, & Pt 2 (Tracks 9-20) = 90.5 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Live In Japan 4:47
2 Ankle Bracelet 4:35
3 Poo-Tee-Weet? 0:42
4 Backwards Deb 5:35
5 We'll Be Right Back 8:16
6 Joe 4:46
7 Pretty Enough For Girls 6:48
8 Taster 3:47 *
9 Dancing 2:54
10 Selfish Otter 4:16 *
11 Only Mondays 2:04
12 Lhai Sal 2:23 *
13 The Mystery Music 2:26 *
14 The Brown Triangles 2:13 *
15 MM 0:31 *
16 I Was Not Ready For You 3:20
17 Ragged Ass 4:17
18 Skull Bubbles 3:59
19 Friends And Family 3:57
20 Kedgeree 7:12

N.B: * Instrumental tracks. All other tracks contain vocals

All tracks composed by Mike Keneally except Track 14 by Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins and Track 20 by Mike Keneally & Bryan Beller

MUSICIANS

Mike Keneally - Guitar, Electric Piano, Vocals, Background Vocals
Rick Musallam - Guitar, E-Bow, Percussion, Slide Whistle, Vocals, Background Vocals
Bryan Beller - Bass
Marc Ziegenhagen- Keyboards, Piano
Jason Harrison Smith - Drums, Percussion
Tricia Williams - Marimba, Percussion
Tricia Steel - Marimba, Vibraphone
Evan Francis - Alto Saxophone, Flute
Chris Opperman - Piano, Trumpet
Bob Tedde - Vocals
Mark DeCerbo - Vocals, Background Vocals
Scott Chatfield - Background Vocals

PRESS QUOTES

"Mike Keneally is a staggering talent who believes rock should aim straight for the soul." -VH1.com

"Mike Keneally is an absurdly talented musician."- Slamm

"There are few (if any) players out there possessing both his advanced level of chops and such a brilliantly twisted sensibility." - Guitar One

"Anyone with half-an-open-ear can't help but be astounded by this clever, multi-faceted soul." - Alternate Music Press

"What do you get when you take Frank Zappa's musical style, Andy Partridge’s melodic sense and almost stream-of-consciousness lyrics?
The answer is Mike Keneally & Beer for Dolphins’ latest disc, Dancing." - The Arizona Republic

"One of the year’s 10 best albums!" - San Diego Union-Tribune

"An absolute corker – to better this he’d really have to go some."- The Idiot Bastard, England

"Dancing is courageously varied and rich in times when monotony rules." - Blow Up, Italy

"One of my top five favorites for the year 2000." - Music News Network

"There's plenty of wonderful detail – listen on headphones and you'll wonder what planet you’re on by track four." - Guitarist, England

"A suave blend of horns, jazzy chords and Zappa-esque riffing."- Guitar Player

"It just keeps getting better with each listen." - Ground And Sky

"You’ll find yourself musically fulfilled and amazed that one man could write songs so different from one another, while still being accessible." - All About Jazz

"Dancing" embeds itself in your psyche halfway through the first listen." - Underdog Online, Holland

MIKE KENEALLY BIO

Mike Keneally obviously doesn't like to be labeled -- he's a bandleader and bandmember, a rock and jazz fusion player, and also an outstanding guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, and percussionist. Taking up keyboards at age five, Keneally's life changed when he moved from New York to California in 1970 and heard Frank Zappa for the first time at age ten. Woodshedding for the next 15 years as a self-taught guitarist, Keneally formed a band called Drop Control in his hometown of San Diego in 1985 and became one of the city's musical heroes. Keneally auditioned for Zappa's band in 1987 as a "stunt guitar" replacement for Steve Vai, and was hired as a guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. The multi-instrumentalist would appear on some classic Zappa albums like Broadway the Hard Way and The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, but little did he know that his lineup would be Zappa's final touring band. Between 1988 and 1991, Keneally performed with Drop Control and Zappa's son Dweezil's band Z, toyed with studio-musician status, and moved to Los Angeles. After working on the Grammy-winning tribute album Zappa's Universe, Keneally started a solo career with his 1992 debut album, Hat. Quirky and hard to categorize (with Zappa trademarks like classical undertones, stuttering, jazz-like rhythms, and humorous lyrics), the debut was a big hit with critics. But the next year would claim both Keneally's father and Zappa, leading to the moody yet brilliant 1994 CD Boil That Dust Speck. Ranging from intense rock ("Skunk") to ballads ("Blameless [The Floating Face]") to Keneally's closing percussion tribute saga to Zappa, "The Old Boat Guy," the disc showcased every facet of his array of talents. Leaving Z in 1996 and naming his solo touring band Beer for Dolphins, Keneally released the riotous double CD Half Alive in Hollywood, featuring one disc of live-in-a-studio originals and one of live stage performances (including covers of Jimi Hendrix's "Power to Love" and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"). He also formed a band called the Mistakes, with Henry Kaiser, Andy West (Dixie Dregs), and Prairie Prince (the Tubes), who released a self-titled album. The same year, Keneally joined fellow Zappa alumnus Steve Vai's band, playing on the G3 Tour over the next year with Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Playing classical piano-like keyboard lines, percussion, and intricate harmonized guitar lines with rock virtuoso Vai, Keneally helped the band steal the G3 show often (as evidenced by the G3: Live in Concert CD). Between releases by Beer for Dolphins (1997's Sluggo!; 2000's Dancing) and solo albums (1999's Nonkertompf, on which he played all of the instruments), Keneally also found time to record two CDs with Vai, 1999's The Ultra Zone and 2001's Alive in an Ultra World. In 2001, Keneally got a new acoustic guitar, which led to the release of the largely acoustic-based and mellow Wooden Smoke, which showed yet another side of Keneally's musical personality. For another interesting detour, in 2002, Keneally was approached by Co de Kloet, commissioning director for Holland's NPS Radio, and was commissioned to write music for electric guitar and orchestra. The resulting music and live performances with the renowned Metropole Orchestra were such a success that de Kloet started the NPS Output label to release The Universe Will Provide in 2004, just a month after Keneally turned around and delivered his hardest-rocking album to date, Dog, with the newly christened Mike Keneally Band. Just a few months after that came Piano Reductions, Vol. 1, an album of Vai songs played solo on piano that was actually recorded in 1999 at Steve's request. As if he weren't busy enough, around the same time he got involved with Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith's Yo Miles! project, appearing on both Sky Garden and Upriver. The Mike Keneally Band hit the road in 2005, playing across the U.S., with Guitar Therapy Live appearing as the tour document in 2006. That same year, Keneally acquired the rights to his early catalog on Immune with plans to re-release it in deluxe editions in 2007 on Exowax (each of Keneally's Exowax recordings has been available as a limited-edition package with lots of bonus material). With his wide-ranging talents and ability to be creative in almost any musical situation, Keneally is the leading progressive rock genius of the post-Zappa era. By & © Sean Westergaard & Bill Meredith © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mike-keneally-p93263/biography