Greg Howe, Victor Wooten, Dennis Chambers

Greg Howe, Victor Wooten, Dennis Chambers ‎- Extraction - 2003 - Tone Center

Greg Howe is one of the greatest rock and jazz fusion guitarists of modern times. Bassist Victor Wooten has carved out a brilliant career as a solo artist, music educator and as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Dennis Chambers is known for his work with Steely Dan, Parliament, Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, and Santana. Each musician on this album is arguably the best at what they do and they are three of the most revered players in the rock and fusion world. According to Greg Howe, the album went through a very difficult recording process which spanned two years, resulting in disagreements between the three musicians and Shrapnel founder Mike Varney, as well as several delays in the release date. Read http://www.guitarmessenger.com/interviews/greg-howe-interview/ where Greg Howe explains the complications involved in releasing this album.

Although he's primarily known as a heavy metal shredder, guitarist Greg Howe can pretty much adapt to any style thrown his way -- including jazz fusion. And this is precisely the style that is featured throughout 2003's Extraction, which saw Howe joined by such top-notch instrumentalists as Victor Wooten on bass and Dennis Chambers on drums (as well as David Cook on keys). Longtime fans of Howe who are hoping for at least a glimpse of his hard rock roots are out of luck here, as the tunes often recall the carefree fusion days of the 1970s, when such artists as Billy Cobham, Stanley Clarke, and Al di Meola were consistently giving a clinic with chops-heavy tunes. As far as modern-day fusion goes, Extraction is pretty darn consistent from front to back, as evidenced by such uptempo ditties as "Extraction" and "Crack It Way Open," as well as more tranquil moments like "Tease" and "Ease Up." Howe, Wooten, and Chambers have certainly succeeded in summoning up a heavy '70s vibe throughout Extraction, and as a result, the album wouldn't sound out of place played between School Days and Where Have I Known You Before. © Greg Prato © 2013 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/extraction-mw0000693659

Greg Howe's Extraction (Tone Center) is fusion with a capital F, but not the sort that has had the blood sucked out of it. Instead it brings some of the adventurous spirit inherent in the original jazz-rock concept. It's an album of often-complicated heads followed by plenty of solo space, and it has chops written all over it. This sort of music absolutely depends on the personality of the participants to make it work, and each musician here has a commanding skill of his instrument. Guitarist Howe is something of a prodigy discovered by Eddie Van Halen and has toured with Michael Jackson; Victor Wooten is a bass virtuoso currently with Bela Fleck; and in-demand drummer Dennis Chambers, currently with Santana, underpins the album with his complex yet funky grooves such as on "Tease" where Howe's solo on a pedal point is effective yet highly lyrical. The standout track is "Crack It Way Open," with Howe in head-banging form and revealing what an accomplished guitarist he is. By & © Stuart Nicholson, March 2004 © 1999–2013 JazzTimes, Inc. All rights reserved. http://jazztimes.com/articles/14509-extraction-greg-howe-victor-wooten-dennis-chambers

I love this album. I noted with interest the comments of more knowledgeable reviewers who criticized it slightly (4 stars) for the musicians recording it separately or thinking it wasn't up to Greg's best playing. Well maybe ignorance is bliss since I don't know his other albums, I thought Proto Cosmos was even better than the Tony Williams' original, and I'd have never known about the separate studios. This album COOKS. The playing is uniformly great, and so are most of the compositions. It's some of the best fusion I've heard this millennium. It's all I need sometimes to put an extra umph into my day, and of course great to drive to. – from ***** “Like a injection of caffeine, not novocaine”, March 12, 2013 By & © D. M. Paine "Renaissance Man" (Alexandria, Virginia USA) © 1996-2013, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/Extraction-Howe/product reviews/B0000CNY38/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

This all instrumental jazz fusion album from Greg Howe, Victor Wooten, and Dennis Chambers has received many varied reviews. Some say the tunes lack originality. There are complaints about the recording lacking “vibes” and atmosphere due to most of the album being recorded at different times and tracks laid down with no real interaction between the musicians. Somebody even said Dave Cook’s keyboard work detracted from the album’s quality. However, Greg Howe is one of the greatest rock and jazz fusion guitarists of modern times. Bassist Victor Wooten has carved out a brilliant career as a solo artist, music educator and as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Dennis Chambers is known for his work with Steely Dan, Parliament, Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, and Santana. Each musician on this album is arguably the best at what they do and they are three of the most revered players in the rock and fusion world. According to Greg Howe, the album went through a very difficult recording process which spanned two years, resulting in disagreements between the three musicians and Shrapnel founder Mike Varney, as well as several delays in the release date. Read http://www.guitarmessenger.com/interviews/greg-howe-interview/ where Greg Howe explains the complications involved in releasing this album. It would have been a great loss to real fusion lovers if Mike Varney had not got this album released. The music is funky, and exciting. The writing is solid. The playing is amazing, and all four musicians display some scary technical skills. What more do you need in an album? “Extraction” is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to Victor Wooten’s “Palmystery” album, Dennis Chambers’ “Outbreak” album, and Martone’s “Clean” album featuring Greg Howe [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 115 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Extraction 6:14
2 Tease 6:07
3 Crack It Way Open 5:59
4 Contigo 6:30
5 Proto Cosmos 4:16
6 A Delicacy 2:24
7 Lucky 7 6:02
8 Ease Up 6:20
9 Bird's Eye View 6:19

All tracks composed by Greg Howe except "Proto Cosmos" composed by Alan Pasqua

MUSICIANS

Greg Howe - Guitar, Guitar Synth, Keyboards
Victor Wooten - Bass
Dave Cook - Keyboards [Additional, Solos]
Dennis Chambers - Drums