OMINOX: Contemporary Past

Ominox

Contemporary Past

© 2004 Matt Williams (829667018025)

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Hard-edged jazz rock fusion in the vein of Chick Corea, Tribal Tech and the Mike Stern Band.

tracks

1 Incommunicado
2 Contemporary Past
3 In Time
4 Yes!
5 Clockwork
6 Solitude
7 Ominox
8 Virtual Reality
9 X-periment
10 Android

notes

Ominox is the jazz rock fusion brainchild of keyboard maestro (and featured soloist/composer on Liquid Note Records releases The Alchemists, Richard Hallebeek Project and J.A.M.), Lale Larson. Contemporary Past contains material from his first fusion band Ominox. The compositions were written when Larson was only 17/18 years old and have been specially remastered for this album.

This recording is not only a journey back in time, it's also an accurate picture of the development of a young musician as he explores his abilities and trades lines with other talented jazz/rock musicians.

Contemporary Past features the best tunes from three different sessions: 1993, 94 and 95. Ten tracks of hard-edged jazz fusion in the vein of Chick Corea, Tribal Tech and the Mike Stern Band. Ominox has been something of an underground phenomenon for many years, attracting praise from Mark Varney and a whole host of fans of virtuoso playing.

This album has been a long time in the coming, but we believe you'll think it was worth the wait. If challenging, catchy, melody-soaked jazz rock fusion with killer keyboard solos and lots of heartfelt guitar solos are your cup of tea, then Contemporary Past will be your album of the year!

reviews

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  • Ominox - Contemporary Past
    author: Mikolaj Furmankiewicz

    You can infrequently learn about the bands of this sort as the project above. I hope the situation undergoes changes, that's why I have devoted DoV to most ingenious groups and artists in the world. Ominox are faithful to fusion music, that is an attempt at mixing jazz, rock with other genres. It doesn't matter that fusion isn't numbered among most popular subgenres at present. Most of listeners prefer "one-way" (one-directed) music to becoming engrossed in the secrets of different styles. Some of them are also afraid that won't be able to understand such a music, so I will try to dispel all these concerns. A Swede Lale (actually Lalle) Larson is most often associated with a band Karmakanic, but his musical adventure was started from another point. To deepen his knowledge and improve abilities, he studied at American Institute of Music (Vienna). Lale got to know Jerry Ericsson there and decided on founding a fusion group after homecoming. Its name was Virtual Reality in the year 1995, but it was renamed for Ominox with time. Obviously, the line-up was being changed in the course of a few years. I'd like to mention all the members: Fredrik Möller (guitar, bass), Bo Eriksson (guitar), a jazz guitarist Krister Jonsson and American musician - Jimmy Lou (guitar). But the foundation of Ominox are three instrumentalists: Lale Larson (keys), Bengt Johnson (drums) and Jerry Ericsson (bass). They recorded some demo tapes, but couldn't manage to publish them officially. Finally, they came across a passionate fan Matt Williams who released their material under the banner of his Liquid Note Records. Aforementioned CD consists of tracks that were recorded even a dozen or so years ago when Lale was seventeen. I'd like to point out that "Contemporary Past" isn't his solo release. If you want to listen to a music composed for a solo piano, I send you to his "State of Mind". Moving directly to the contests, I admit that such musicians like Lale Larson don't play the music, but go in for a "musical painting". They are capable of "painting" something of impressionistic picture's sort with their instruments. Therefore, we can't simply describe Ominox's music as a traditional jazz/fusion. Lale managed to smuggle a great deal of his original conceptions (clearly audible in interludes) and movie accents. It's also important that Lale's improvisations aren't tiresome because of their melodiousness. I attach a great importance to the fact that 99% of the material was recorded live, not on the stage in front of the audience, but at one go with a little amount of corrections and patches at the studio. It just goes to show that the Ominox crew are very gifted and professional. I put "Contemporary Past" close to such names like Tribal Tech, Coste Apetrea (De Gladas Kapell), Hans Lundin (Kaipa) and Chick Corea. I assure you that Ominox's tones are capable of making a great impression on every sensitive listener.

  • author: Laurie Monk

    Lale Larson is an understated, intelligent and immense musical talent whose ability is well known. "Contemporary" Past is another Liquid Note Records CD and is a retrospective of recordings from Lales' fusion band, Ominox. The material is also reflective of his musical influences of that period: Allan Holdsworth, Tribal Tech, Chick Corea Electric Band, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. All tracks from the album are well thought out and constructed. With ten tracks and over sixty five minutes of music its no surprise that there are times when the music fails to gel. Although some of the tracks are less melodic and more impenetrable, the keyboard solos remain excellent through out. This CD will appeal to fans of the fusion genre, but also has melodic qualities that have the potential to appeal to a broader audience. I would certainly recommend it to fans of Allan Holdsworth et al.

  • author: Jeffrey E. Terwilliger

    Lale Larson. Remember the name. This keyboard player is only in his early twenties, but already he's making a major impact in the jazz fusion world. In both his solos and his compositions, he is one helluva jammin' cat - which is to say, over my head but not far enough for me not to appreciate this stuff. For those of you who dig fusion, think: Equal parts Chick Corea (Elektric Band era) and Allan Holdsworth (Secrets - Wardenclyfe Tower era). Larson's music is mature, with complex chord changes & voicings supported by a powerful but tasty & restrained rhythm section that reminds me of Gary Husband and Jimmy Johnson.

  • author: MJ Brady, Proggnosis

    The way these musicians are drawn together is through the work of Larson's arsenal of keyboards and his genious as a writer. This is not a cd of mindless shredding or showmanship, rather a statement of grand proportions that elevate this cd to the level of the very best in the history of progressive related fusion recordings. I for one can only hope that there is more to be heard from this amazing group of musicians.

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