World Music Mix: Clint Bahr(USA) – Puzzlebox (Moonjune Records, 2022)

clint-bahr-puzzlebox

Inextricably linked to the label, the 2003 self-titled debut of Clint Barr‘s seminal NYC-based power trio, Tripod, was MoonJune Record’s fourth release. Harkening back to the same “reaching beyond” mentality which defined the work, Puzzlebox – bassist / vocalist / composer / multi-instrumentalist Barr’s long-awaited epic – is a fitting way to document this most special of occasions: seeing both artist and label going full circle, and in grandiose style!

Delightfully blurring both stylistic and structural approaches, the tight-knit unit Barr has assembled proves as unpredictable as they are adept, articulate and convicted. Described as “a genre-defying global collaboration of artists; a cross-pollination of diverse instruments and talents,” Puzzlebox recalls prog in its early heydays: when albums as uninhibited and offscript as King Crimson’s Lizard and Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica were celebrated, and the Canterbury renaissance was in full swing. Brilliantly arranged and produced, Clint Barr has delivered a multi-faceted, timeless epic … at such a time as this.

CLINT BAHR’s PUZZLEBOX’s release culminates a 20-year relationship between Clint Bahr and Leonardo Pavkovic, as TriPod’s eponymous CD was the fourth album released on MoonJune Records in 2003.

PUZZLEBOX is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Clint Bahr (former member of TriPod, Andromeda & Flash).

PUZZLEBOX is a rock band, a multidimensional “Tabula Rasa” in both compositional and improvisational formats.

PUZZLEBOX is a genre-defying global collaboration of artists, a cross-pollination of diverse instruments and talents.

Featuring:
Clint Bahr – basses & vocals (TriPod)
Peter Banks – guitar (Yes)
Colin Carter – vocals (Flash)
Marilyn Crispell – piano (Pharoah Sanders, Anthony Braxton)
David Cross- violins (King Crimson)
Stephanie Feyne – dialogue (The Dotes)
Billy Ficca – drums (Television)
Dick Griffin – trombone (Sun Ra, Roland Kirk)
Mike Hough – drums (Flash)
David Jackson – woodwinds (Van der Graaf Generator)
Dan Parkington – sitar & violin (Andromeda)
Jeff Schiller – woodwinds (The Roots)

www.puzzlebox.band

bandcamp

World Music Mix