Has anyone heard about John Densmore new project called TribalJazz. I heard a couple of their songs while working at Universal and they are good. I love the way they take different types of music and culture and blend it to make their own sound. They truly define the term of World Music. All fans of the Doors and music loves should check it out. I got their myspace page if anybody wants to check it out. www.myspace.com/tribaljazzdensmore
He did his best to piss off Doors fans last year. Encouraged by the acclaim and adulation garnered by reunion concerts by Cream and other "classic rock" bands, Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger wanted to re-form The Doors. Since Jim Morrison was not available, they had two choices. Either forget about it and leave everyone wondering whether they could have pulled it off and made their fans happy, or try it and see. It could have been a bust like Black Sabbath without Ozzy, or it could have been a whole new era of great music like AC/DC with Brian Johnson... or something in between. The key was to find the right singer. In my opinion they found him in the Cult's Ian Astbury. Who would have expected an Englishman to be a perfect front man for an L.A. band? Sure, and who would have expected a pair of Americans to propel Fleetwood Mac to new heights. I don't know the details of the squabble among the surviving band members, but Densmore apparently disagreed with the decision to become active again. Fine, it's pretty common for drummers to retire before the rest of the band these days, because rock drumming is punishing work. But he wouldn't allow them to call themselves "The Doors." Cheap shot. They had to rename themselves "The Doors of the 21st Century" after a lot of the promotional material had already been distributed. The band had to play 1000-seat theaters instead of the arenas that The Doors' name would have filled. That was fine with me, I got to watch the show without binoculars. But tens of thousands of people missed a great show. No one would accuse Ian Astbury of sounding just like Jim Morrison. But five minutes into the first song (yeah they were plenty long renditions with lots of instrumental jams) you'd swear that Jim was in the room. Ian did a respectful performance, not trying to make the songs his own, but he's obviously a talented professional who can channel the original performer in a cover. Before long we all felt like we were at a Doors concert. Not just the "Retired Hippie Band Nostalgia Tour Circuit" that everyone from the Blue Oyster Cult to Bad Company has been doing at county fairs with most of their chops more or less intact, but a real 1968 Sunset Strip Doors concert. Shame on John Densmore for putting a hex on that. I guess he wasn't retiring after all because you say he's forming a new band. As I said I have no visibility into the personal relations within the band, but when it affects their music he's simply coming across as bitchy.
