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Dialeto Live with David Cross Review by Gary Hill This new live album is pretty awesome. Dialeto plays with guest violinist David Cross. Of course, Cross is best known for his work with King Crimson, so it's no surprise that they do some Crimson music along with the rest of their repertoire. They create some particularly cool music that manages to cover a lot of different prog territory. It's mostly instrumental, but two of the Crimson songs have vocals that really rival John Wetton's original singing. All in all, this is a highly recommended set. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2018 Volume 5. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2018.

Track by Track Review

Roumanian Folk Dances 3: Standing Still This rises up gradually and feels rather dark and mysterious. As you might expect there is a healthy helping of world music built into this, particularly as drives forward later. Yet it also has a definite King Crimson like dark prog vein to it, too.

Roumanian Folk Dances 2: Peasant Costume There is a bit of a Doors vibe to this in some ways. It builds outward with a fast paced prog insistence that's very cool. Of course, it still has plenty of world music in the mix. I love the lines of guitar that dance all over this thing. It's a real powerhouse number. This one is really a lot of fun.

Roumanian Folk Dances 4: Stick Game Bass sounds begin this, and the cut builds out gradually and texturally. I dig the guitar that sort of soars across the top. That guitar starts to become more melodic, painting lines of sound. I also really like the bass sound on this thing. It's an intriguing cut that works upward toward rather psychedelic territory as it grows.

Mikrokosmos 149: Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm II There is a bit more of a straight-ahead rocking vibe to this. That said, it's still quirky and proggy in its shifts and turns. In fact, there are some really abstract moments in this cut. It has some definite ties to King Crimson like sounds.

Mikrokosmos 113: Bulgarian Rhythm I Fiery guitar sounds are a big part of this. It's a screaming hot prog rock jam that has plenty of fusion built into it. This thing is a real powerhouse.

Mikrokosmos 78: Five Tone Scale A mellower number, this has a real classical bent to it. It's more atmospheric and textural in terms of intensity and volume level. It's also such a cool piece, and a great contrast. About half-way through this shifts to a rocking jam. It intensifies and becomes quite King Crimson-like. It gets pretty noisy as it carries onward.

An Evening in the Village: 10 Easy Piano Pieces, No. 5 This one comes in mellower and rises up gradually. While it's a while before it gets more energized, it eventually does, working into some cool territory as it does so.

The Young Bride: For Children Vol. 1, No. 17 While there are definitely world music elements at play on this song, it's a powerful King Crimson meets fusion jam. This is loud and boisterous, and also very cool.

Exiles Speaking of King Crimson, here they cover a song from that outfit. This comes in mellow and quite pretty with a real electronic music element at play. They power it up after a time, and the cut really shines. I love the vocals on this. They really manage to sound a lot like John Wetton. There is some scorching guitar at points on the cut. This has its own flavor, but still manages to capture a lot of that KC magic.

Tonk Here we get another powerhouse hard rocking prog jam that's quite cool.

The Talking Drum They play this Crimson number more faithful to the original version.

Larks Tongues in Aspic, Pt. II I love this screaming hot rendition of the classic Crimson tune. They play it pretty faithfully and it's pure magic.

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