Most interesting stuff! Stan is a such a great guitarplayer, im happy that he play the Happy music. ;D What person who have some interest (and probably the ones who play music themselves) can Not be impressed by the way Allan handles his guitar and synthaxe. Allan is an icon among many guitarists.

Interesting to on Audiophiles Import is the MAHAVISHNU PROJECT * PHASE 2. A band who play the old Vishnu stuff. Who can play this songs better that Mahavishnu themselves, but i guess that they are having a blast playing this old fusion classics. They are all great musicians who handles the music very well, sometimes they play the pieces a bit to stressed maybe to impress the listeners or just because they are playing it live and the andrenalin is unstoppable. But we all know that this Mahavishnu pieces dont need to be played at a higher tempo.
In Within The Womb Of Night Steve Hunt has that typical Jan Hammer key sound, lovely. Miles Beyond sound very good an "non stressed", and what a great melody that piece has. Positive is that this Mahavishnu pieces comes to light and is beeing played for an audience these days.

This is the full translation of the review which originally was published in the Dutch progressive rock magazine iO Pages, number 54:

CARL HUPP PROJECT
Hyper Statue
(LONG POINT RECORDS LP-010262-1)
Those who watch the interview on the DVD which is added to Hyper Statue, will have a bit of trouble to imagine that shy looking Carl Hupp has managed to stimulate more than 20 first class musicians to deliver a smashing album. Tony Levin for example bangs his Chapman Stick in an old fashion way over a drum-pattern that sounds like Rush’ Mystic Rhythms in the title-track and Stanley Whitaker from Happy The Man plays in the exuberant jazz-rock/fusion tracks Revenge Of The Chair People, Skeleton Crew and Riff Raff in the style of one of his inspiration-sources, Allan Holdsworth, while the influence of Jeff Beck (and in smaller degree Neil Schon) turn up in the beautiful guitar-ballad The Better Angels Of Our Nature. By the way, these sources of inspiration are being called in the introducing clips, which are present on the DVD, in which is also showed a shot of the recording-sessions as well as an overview of the bands in which they have performed and by whom they have been influenced. The DVD also contains a video-clip from the solid Skeleton Crew, which has a drum-solo, that portrays Hupp as an excellent drummer, who hasn’t got his mega drum-set just for the show, but who can play with it very tasteful and versatile. He presents himself on this CD not only in jazz-rock, but also in genres like blues-rock, jazz, Latin and progressive rock, not seldom incorporated in one track. This variation manifests itself also very good in the instrumentation, in which everything is being coloured by amongst others sharp playing horn-players, a tearing harmonica-player and various percussionists. Finally there have been recorded two covers: Five G from Bill Bruford’s One Of A Kind and Billy Cobham’s Quadrant 4 (from Spectrum), complex compositions, that show, just like the rest of the songs, the first rate of the musicians.
Information: www.carlhupp.com

Here's another review, which has some lines featuring the work of Stanley Whitaker. I found it on Carl Hupp's newspage ( www.carlhupp.com/ ) and it was published in local magazine from Baltimore, "Music Monthly".

Carl Hupp Project
Hyper Statue
(Long Point Records)

The Carl Hupp Project has put out a wonderful showcase not only for his immense talents as a drummer, but also for his skilled friends as well, including some well-known musicians. There is so much to like here from the packaging to the quality of the music presented. I can tell that Carl put a lot of time and effort in ensuring that listeners get a lot of enjoyment for their money.
First of all, included with the CD is also an 80 minute DVD that contains a bevy of features from a video of "Skeleton Crew" to a picture gallery of the players and studio out-takes. The CD also has very detailed liner notes explaining who played on each track and the motivation behind them. It helps give a better understanding of the music and how each player contributed.
The music itself is extremely well-done. I'm calling it progressive jazz-fusion with elements of jazz, rock and even blues mixed in. Carl is a big admirer of King Crimson which shows especially on two tracks. The first one, the title cut, has none other than Tony Levin on Chapman Stick, a type of bass. You can hear the steady propulsing of both the bass and drums during this track. However, the main thrust comes from Brad Chatterton's lead guitar and Dave Fairall's tenor and soprano saxes that wail away for the main melody.
The second one is a Bill Bruford song entitled "Five G". Ben Sherman, on guitar, does the riffing on this with well-developed lead lines. Carl breaks out a great pattern with lots of polyrhythms on drums, percussion and roto-toms that starts off fast, slows down a bit in the middle and then picks up speed towards the end.
Stanley Whitaker from Happy The Man joins Carl on a few tunes as well. "The Better Angels Of Our Nature" is the ballad of the set with a lovely melody played simply by Stanley on his fuzz-tone guitar. He also soars well into the stratosphere on "Skeleton Crew" with a touch of the Arabian Nights undertone. This tune also gives you a wondeful insight into Carl's drumming techniques that uses up his entire kit. Incidentally, the recording is extremely good to the point where every nuance of his playing can be heard from the tom-toms to the cymbals.
Another great drummer is spotlighted on Billy Cobham's "Quadrant 4". What a tour-de-force for any musician to accomplish! The rhythm is so fast that major coordination is needed to pull it off and, admirably, the players do! Straight blues guitar by Charles Wright and Carl Hupp's glue hold it together and leave you gasping for breath!
There are plently more wonderful moments on this CD from the very bluesy "Paper Or Plastic?" to the percussive a -plenty that is "Mind Sweeper Part II". A lot of these titles are very amusing, my favorite being "Revenge Of The Chair People". You parking space preservers know who you are!
All in all, this is one of the most professionally put-together sets that I've seen that deserves a definite looking and listening. I don't know if this is a one-off deal but I hope that Carl Hupp and his musical cohorts will reconcile in the future for a sequel. Music this good should be repeated!

Karen Liebowitz