Danny Frankel: The Interplanetary Note/Beat Conference

When an in-demand percussionist like Danny Frankel assembles a crack band with madman guitarist Nels Cline and the keys expertise of Larry Golding, you would be forgiven for expecting it to have a hard, driving drum sound and edgy electric guitar competing with a Medeski, Martin & Wood groove. And you would be right — but only some of the time. This new little group of Frankel’s is pretty strange, and it goes without saying that it will not hold everyone’s interest. The songs come and go quickly, leaving muted bewilderment in their wake instead of concrete themes. Commercial appeal is nil, and The Interplanetary Note/Beat Conference comes close to sounding like unfinished business. But sometimes a question mark aimed for the gut can be just the thing that the doctor ordered. If you want to know what that means, then by all means give Danny Frankel’s latest adventure a try.