Album Notes

Guitar virtuoso Michael Harris returns after the successful “Orchestrate” album ready to take on a fresh new challenge in his every widening musical vocabulary. Enter ‘Tranz-Fused’ which is Harris’ first all fusion instrumental recording; although this isn’t just jazz fusion in its purest sense as it incorporates prog, metal, blues and some funk elements as well. Despite the change of musical expression one thing remains the same - the stunning guitar work of Michael Harris.

Michael’s musical goal with making the album was first and foremost strong songs with melodies that hold up as well as a little wackiness. In a performance sense Michael has delivered a strong yet tasteful vibe with effective dynamics. Sonically Michael has gone for a more stripped down approach with less overdubs and making use of cleaner guitar sounds, old school fusion keyboard and some guitar synth sounds as well as a dose of effects such as octave and ring modulators for true authenticity. Influences for the album have come from the likes of Clint Strong, John Scofield, Pat Martino, Al DiMeola, Scott Henderson and Jeff Beck.

Joining Michael for the album is a stellar supporting cast of bassists Adam Nitti, David Harbour, James Martin and Bunny Brunel. Drums come from Mike Haid and Marco Minnemann and Bernard Wright delivers a keyboard solo on “Seizure Salad”. On his fellow musicians Harris comments; “I was grateful to have a roster of great musicians on the record, who all brought chops, style, dynamics, and substance to the table!”.

“Tranz-Fused” is a welcome return from one of the instrumental scenes best loved players.