What if John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, and Ric Laird had decided that the keyboards and violin of Jan Hammer & Jerry Goodman weren't needed, and that the Mahavishnu Orchestra were better served as a trio? Well, the results might have sounded something like the Indonesian band Ligro, who are guitarist Agam Hamzah, bassist Adi Darmawan and drummer Gusti Hendy. Dictionary 2 is their first international release, and they find themselves on MoonJune Records, really a match made in heaven for both parties. Eight tracks of blistering jazz-rock fusion, led by Hamzah's scorching guitar riffs and solos, who will instantly remind you of McLaughlin, Terje Rypdal, Robert Fripp, Buckethead, and even a little Jimi Hendrix at times.
There's not a ton of subtlety here on Dictionary 2 is the trio busts out of the gate on the scalding "Paradox" and never look back. Hamzah channels his inner Fripp on the King Crimson influenced prog/fusion burner "Transparansi", and the band reach Mahavishnu intensity levels on the blistering tracks "Stravinsky" and "Etude Indienne", both of which sees Hamzah unleash torrents of blazing notes over an acrobatic rhythm section. The trio even dive into their bluesy side on the searing "Don Juan" and gutsy "Bliker 3", while the more jazzy "Miles Away" is no doubt a tribute to the great Miles Davis. For some with more refined tastes, Dictionary 2 might be a tad savage, chaotic, and overblown with guitar solos, but if you like that sort of thing, and have no problem with jazz-rock/fusion/prog that lives on the edge, dangerously on the edge I might add, then this will be a wonderful discovery.
Track Listing
1. Paradox (7:11)
2. Stravinsky (11:32)
3. Future (7:17)
4. Don Juan (6:13)
5. Bliker 3 (10:55)
6. Etude Indienne (12:51)
7. Miles Away (4:15)
8. Transparansi (13:16)
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