Gergo Borlai, the Hungarian drummer and composer based in Los Angeles, released his fourth official solo album today. 'The Missing Song' is an ode to nine living and legendary drummers from the USA. All the 9 song titles are named after these drummers. Borlai gathered a stunning group of musicians for the album, such as Scott Kinsey, Jimmy Haslip, Gary Willis, Alex Machacek, Mike Keneally and many more.
After a first listen you are not only highly impressed by the compositions and the work of the musicians playing on it. All the songs really do match the style, and even the musical history, of the drummers for whom they were written. On Keith, you hear perfect matches of Keith Carlock's work and style with Rudder and Oz Noy. Kirk could easily have been written by Kirk Covington himself.
Each track has its own unique artist-inspired musical realm. The last two tracks for Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta are just chilling matches and odes referring to their periods with Frank Zappa. I think we are safe to say these can be considered an ode to Frank Zappa as well. If a drum festival would feature these nine drummers, The Missing Drummer would be Gergo Borlai.
Track listing 'The Missing Song' All songs are composed and arranged by Gergo Borlai except Terry, which was composed and arranged by guitarist Alex Machacek, who is also present on Thomas Lang's 2019 release 'Progpop.' Below is the full list of personnel on the album.
Billy Cobham
Gary Novak
Dennis Chambers
Keith Carlock
Steve Gadd
Kirk Covington
Peter Erskine
Terry Bozzio (Hungarian Easy Teenage Version)
Vinnie Colaiuta
Gergo, just like many musicians, is having a hard time due to COVID-19. In a fundraiser he stated that until October 60 concerts and 13 drum clinics are cancelled. On a happier note, on May 25 he posted his return to his studio after 85 days on Facebook with some cool shots from his drumkit.
"After 85 days I finally got back to my studio and miking up my fresh new sE Electronics microphones. Lots of drum recording and shooting ahead. I'm speechless and happy! Back to life!"
- Gergo Borlai
'The Missing Song' on Spotify You can scroll through the samples of the songs.
Personell 'The Missing Song'
Drums/Additional Instruments: Gergo Borlai
Keys: Matt Rohde, Scott Kinsey
Bass: Jimmy Haslip, Anton Davidyants, Stu Hamm, Jimmy Earl, Pete Griffin, Gary Willis, Hadrien Feraud, Anthony Crawford, Romain Cabaye
Guitar: Dean Brown, Alex Machacek, Mike Gotthard, Nguyen Le, Peta Lukacs, Mike Keneally
