Vocal shortcomings aside, this is a superb disc from Tesseract and is worth every effort to track down.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Tesseract
ALBUM: Tesseract
LABEL: Independent
SERIAL: TCD001
YEAR: 1997
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Don Tillman – guitars, keyboards, vocals, cymbals * Karen Bentley – violin * Julius Smith – keyboards, guitar * Dave Berners – bass * Josh Schroeter – drums, percussion
TRACK LISTING: 01 Entrance * 02 Heisenberg’s Daughter * 03 Cast Of Thousands (Introduction, The Cast, The Vitamin Mine, The Spinach) * 04 Allegro Assai (Bach Violin Concerto In A Minor, 3rd Movement) * 05 Rice * 06 Cymbal Dance * 07 Vantage Point Instrumental
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
One of the better U.S. progressive rock releases from the humdrum ’90s, Tesseract hailed from Palo Alto California and other than a compilation appearance in 2002, zilch has been heard from the band since. This lot should not be confused with an Australian prog metal band of the same name from Geelong Melbourne Australia.
Tesseract, which in case you were wondering is a scientific term used to describe a four-dimensional object, played a handful of performances in the San Francisco bay area and in the pre-internet days created quite a buzz in the progressive community world wide. Available from the usual vendors of the day, I recall for some reason buying the disc direct from the band, although in all probability is now long out of print.
The Songs
Really this is keyboardist Don Tillman’s baby or at least that’s the impression I have and with an arsenal of keys including the beloved Mellotron, he’s augmented by notable violinist Karen Bentley who was previously heard on Camel‘s excellent 1996 disc ‘Harbour Of Tears’.
The other players are certainly top notch, but its Tillman and Bentley that carry the recording. Comparisons to Kansas are more than obvious, blatant perhaps and without the bombast but there is a fusion element to the Tesseract sound similar to Happy The Man as well.
Unfortunately, that parallel doesn’t end instrumentally as Tillman’s vocals are painfully similar to Kit Watkins’ croak but it’s a minor quibble since he doesn’t attempt to ‘sing’ too often – thank God. The music is brightly coloured and attractive although the best cut is not band penned, but a whimsical and wonderfully baroque cover of Johann Sebastian Bach‘s ‘Allegro Assai’ which is nothing short of stunning.
In Summary
Vocal shortcomings aside, this is a superb disc from Tesseract and is worth every effort to track down. The band’s web site was last updated in 2008 and includes Don Tillman’s address. Maybe he still has a few copies lying around.
Tesseract on Video
None found.
