Dancing On Plato's Tomb - Music

Dancing On Plato's Tomb by Universal Congress Of

Universal Congress Of

Artist Biography For Universal Congress Of

Led By Ex-Saccharine Trust Axewielder Joe Baiza Universal Congress Of Began As The Title For Baiza's 1987 Solo Record Later Becoming The Name Of His Fine Funky Backing Band. Although On His Debut Solo LP He Was Still Playing Semi-Improvised Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Similar To What He Was Exploring In Saccharine Trust Baiza/UCO's Later Work Was More Structured And Song-Oriented. Although He Continued To Show A Talent For All-Out Free Playing And Gnarled Aural Jazz Damage When Baiza Added Funk To The Mix And Kept The Songs Under Ten Minutes He Became A Much More Interesting Musician And UCO Became A Much More Interesting Band. Paced By Excellent Bass/drum Combinations Like Bob Fitzer And Paul Lines And Steve Gaeta And A. P. Gonzalez UCO Played Rockish Jazz/jazzish Rock Not Unlike That Of Blood Ulmer And Ornette Coleman. But Whereas Those Two Wandered Freely Into The World Of Dissonance And Especially In Ornette's Case Harmolodics UCO Deeply Anchored Their Music In Heavy Funk. This However Did Not Mean That Baiza's Guitar Playing Became Less Intriguing Nor Did It Mean That UCO's Fine Sax Player Steve Moss Stopped Blowing Up A Storm What It Meant Was That They Limited The Screwing Around And Focused On Substance Rather Than Style. Not What You'd Expect From A Bunch Of Former SoCal Punks UCO Was Is Still? A Band That Realized That Less Especially When Played With A Feisty Verve Is Always More.