By Al Nigrin
originally published: 09/10/2024

I had a great time last Saturday evening seeing a double bill of Jane Getter Premonition and PAKT perform their respective musical magic at the Williams Center in Rutherford, New Jersey.  I had seen PAKT a few times before but last night they were really on fire. It is no accident that I now call their sound "volcanic music." I will explain what I mean by this in a bit.

Jane Getter Premonition opened the show.  As I listened to the band for the first time that night, without knowing what to expect, I became an instant convert. JPG is headed by singer-songwriter and lead guitarist Jane Getter.  Her music has been called an “intersection of jazz, metal, and rock,” and her melodic songs, coupled with her masterful chops on the guitar, were a revelation. This terrific band also features keyboardist Adam Holzman, guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist and singer Paul Frazier, and drummer Gene Lake. I loved their sound so much that I bought all of their CDs at the merch table.

PAKT is made up of an amazing ensemble of master musicians who play a kind of progressive new music. Last Saturday, they took listeners on an improvised sonic voyage that often left me speechless. PAKT is made up of former Brand X members Percy Jones (on fretless bass guitar), Kenny Grohowski (on drums), as well as Alex Skolnick (on guitar), and Tim Motzer (on guitar and electronics). When I heard, a few years back, that Brand X had disbanded because of the passing of lead guitarist extraordinaire John Goodsall I became despondent, as a long-time fan.  My sadness over his passing dissipated somewhat after I learned that Percy and Kenny had joined this new band called PAKT. After my first listen to their debut album, I found it to be in the same Brand X vein but also something quite different. Guitarists Motzer and Skolnick create an amazing array of sounds that complement the top-notch melodic rhythm section of Grohowski and Jones.

Last night, PAKT was also joined by Jane Getter Premonition keyboardist Adam Holzman. Adam fit right in and it would be interesting to hear him on future recordings by PAKT. I even noticed the reference to Brand X’s original keyboard wizard Robin Lumley's musical flourishes in some of Adam’s playing last night. They say PAKT’s music is hard to describe because their style is all encompassing but I think “volcanic music” fits the bill for many of their improvised songs. While listening to their ensemble work, you can hear the lava and magma rumbling up as if from the bowels of the earth, then exploding out of the volcano, as each song reaches its crescendo.

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I highly recommend both bands particularly but not only to lovers of great prog-rock.  Check them out the next time they're playing in New Jersey or in the New York metropolitan area. 

Here is a video I shot of the Opening Song by PAKT: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=F38WsCkgxmA

You can sample and buy their music at these sites so you can see what I mean:

https://janegetter.bandcamp.com/  

https://pakt-moonjune.bandcamp.com/

All photos copyright 2024 Albert Gabriel Nigrin

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Albert Gabriel Nigrin is an award-winning experimental media artist whose work has been screened throughout the world. He is also a Cinema Studies Lecturer at Rutgers University, and the Executive Director/Curator of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, Inc.

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