Kentucky native and longtime Middle Tennessean Adrian Belew is an amazing guitarist, but I have to admit I’ve never enjoyed his sub-David Byrne singing style on his solo work and on his acclaimed recordings with noted vocal group King Crimson. That said, Belew’s approach to the power-trio format provides plenty of thrills — drummer Eric Slick and bassist Julie Slick ground Belew’s flights of fancy and back him efficiently on such old Crimson numbers as “Frame by Frame,” which Belew sings well enough. I do enjoy his contributions to records by Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads and other art rockers, and he makes great noises on Bowie’s 1979 full-length Lodger, one of the Thin White Duke’s best records. Any musician who has survived both the Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp Schools of Rock must be made of strong and flexible metal — Belew is never exactly pretentious. Also, he’s created a pair of interesting mobile sound apps, FLUX:FX and FLUX by Belew. EDD HURT
Adrian Belew Power Trio
