Frogg Café - Creatures

Track List:

1. All This Time (8:02)
2. Creatures (7:41)
3. The Celestial Metal Can (8:19) (in memory of Charles Ives)
4. Gagutz (7:55)
5. Waterfall Carnival (21:15)

Order
     
This unique group are Nick Lieto (vocals, keyboards, trumpet), Steven Uh (guitars), Bill Ayasse (violin, mandolin), Andrew Sussman (bass), and James Guarnieri (drums). All of the members of Frogg Café are university trained in music and this professionalism is quite evident in both the mature compositions and discerning musicality. Frogg Café has been receiving rave reviews from fans and industry alike with their incredibly diverse and eclectic sound that is unmistakably their own.


Frogg Café started out life in 1998 as a Frank Zappa cover band called Lumpy Gravy performing Zappa's difficult music on Long Island and New York City. In 2000, the band was in transition and found a new beginning with the addition of percussionist James Guarnieri to the band. At this point, the band changed its name to Frogg Café and started to perform original music with a host of discernable influences in their sound such as Zappa, Yes, Gentle Giant, Ian Anderson, Genesis, and even the more avant garde styles of composers such as Stravinsky, Ravel, Mingus, Coltrane, Ives, and Copland, just to name a few.

Within their music, Frogg Café deftly blends elements from many sources such as progressive rock, jazz, and even modern chamber music into a cohesive whole. They pull off dazzling intricate written passages one minute, and then take off into spacey improvs the next with a seamless integration. Frogg Café follows their artistic impulses whilst maintaining an incredible amount of musical integrity. With a beautiful blending of vocal harmonies, colorful textures, unparalleled lyricism and melodicism, uncharted and challenging improvisation with both heavy and whimsical musical styles and grooves, the music of Frogg Café is beyond description, so I won't.

 

    
A review by Proggnosis
August 10, 2003

"Creatures" is a very interesting and eclectic progressive rock album that should interest almost every fan of this style of music.

The first song "All This Time" is very much in the traditional 70's style. Powerful guitar, heavy drums and mellotron in the background. Nick Lieto's voice is in the Wetton/Stolt area and he sings quite well. Great opener!! The second track "Creatures" reminds me more of Frank Zappa. I guess this represents somewhat of an hommage from this ex cover band. Third song "The Celestial Metal Can" is very experimental and I must admit, not my cup of tea. I don't feel qualified to evaluate it. Next track "Gagutz" is a very good fusion piece. Finally "Waterfall Carinval", clocking at more then 20 minutes, is an incredible epic prog masterpiece in the vein of early nineties Echolyn (and perhaps also Kansas).