Fat Mama's new release, LOAD"*" 8,1, or LOADSTAR (Phoenix Presents) fuses traditional jazz and rock improvisation with blissed out electro-ambient beats. LOAD"*",8,1 was the command to load the main file from a floppy disc for the first household computer, the Commodore 64. As the command LOAD"*",8,1 would launch an era of technology from which there was no turning back, Fat Mama's new release pays homage to such epic moments in technological evolution and spearheads a new breed of music for the next millennium. Recorded live in a studio setting at New York City's historic Theater 99, LOADSTAR captures the organic and textured qualities that have become Fat Mama's signature sound.

Brett Joseph (tenor sax)
"I believe the concept for this record (create new ideas with old toys), is best represented by Jonathan's composition, "Knucklehead", a musical expression of digital/analog conversion. Here's the play by play:

Kevin begins the tune with a drum machine solo, patiently constructing a 5/4 groove with '80's bass, snare, and hat sounds. At some point during this operation, Jonathan eases in with a D minor guitar vamp over Kevin's "five on the floor". Harmony is then established by Gray and myself with eight bars of trumpet/tenor long tones. Jonti appears, doubling the guitar vamp on electric upright, and Erik joins on haunted organ as the horns begin the first statement of the melody. Here, the subtle battle between digital and analog begins as Joe slowly adds skin and metal to Kev's machined groove. Back to the long tones for the horn players to set up a guitar/trumpet bridge where Joe's rhythm siege is won. Kevin abandons the drum machine for mallets and joins us on vibraphone for the second statement of the melody, which settles nicely into the first solo section.

Jonti holds down the bass vamp as Erik lurks in for a rhodes solo, patiently filling in the spaces between guitar and vibraphone comping. A wonderful display of rhythmic development here by Mr. Deutsch, supported in some shape or form by the entire band. Things strectch and grow until the next solo section is triggered by an ascending trumpet line.

The calm after the storm: this section is marked by changes in both tonality and time signature. I'm backed by guitar, upright, and drums for a mellow 6/8 saxophone solo over E to Bb, which is followed by a rather difficult horn line (intervalistically). This line leads to the next solo: same time signature, different key. Jonti adds phlange to the bass and pedals to create a different feel for this trumpet solo. Lessons in motific development and melodic shredding by Grayboy end with a simple horn background engineered to create the big finish. Intensity increases, then we all drop for a drum solo. Joe slowly works his way through his arsenal of drums and cymbals to rebuild the 5/4 groove that we've almost let you forget about by now. He moves from friendly to furious before the vamp reappears, led by the trumpet. We all join for a final statement of the melody to end the song.

You'd have to ask Jonathan why he named this tune, "Knucklehead." I imagine it might have something to do with him spending half of his present life in a van with six of them. On another note, I have to say that it is odd to analyze a previously recorded tune as a "jam in progress." There are plenty of songs actually in progress that we'd be more than happy to discuss, but time and tape constraints have made this choice for us. To save some face, I'll let you in on a little Fat Mama secret: every song is "in progress." That's one of the rules we have for ourselves to keep things interesting. Songs and concepts should always change as a band and its members grow.

Hope you all enjoy this music.
See you at a show,
Brett Mama

Listen to Knucklehead