Jazz Odyssey

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I highly recommend downloading this live recording of the Hellborg, Lane and Sipe Trio. Bassist Jonas Hellborg, guitarist Shawn Lane, and Drummer Jeff Sipe (aka Apt. Q258) first started playing together in 1995. They toured pretty relentlessly through June of 1997 before splitting. They have released four albums as a trio, all of which are live. They allowed the taping of their live shows (often giving soundboard patches) and encouraged the sharing of those shows through tape trading. This free download is one of those live recordings,
and one of their last as a band.

Bassist Jonas Hellborg had cut his teeth with guitarist John McLaughlin, serving as the bassist for McLaughlin’s 80s formation of Mahavishnu. Sipe had played drums for Zappa/Fusion/Sun Ra influenced Aquarium Rescue Unit under the leadership of Col. Bruce Hampton. Sipe also played drums with neo-bluegrass jamband Leftover Salmon. Both are truly amazing players, but it’s the guitar that is the heart and soul of this trio.

Shawn Lane was one of the most moving, profound andextraordinary musicians I’ve ever heard, with a technique that bordered on genius. So much of his music so powerful yet it has remained criminally underheard. Sadly, Shawn Lane died on September 26, 2003 at the age of 40. His official website can be found here.

I’m perpetually fascinated by the experience of how music, musicians and audience find one another. The inertia of the one-to-one and one-to-many relationships is accelerated, focused and refined, with patterns and "webs of trust" becoming more prominent and intuitive to navigate. This ability to discover and hear music through the Internet is a remarkable system with a
lot of moving parts that’s occasionally taken for granted, sometimes taken advantage of and mis-utilized, but often very rewarding. Hear for yourself….