Mike Keneally/Marco Minnemann "Evidence of Humanity" CD/DVD

(Released in 2010. Read the All Music Guide review.)

 

One bright morning, world-renowned drummer Marco Minnemann settled down behind the DW kit in his secluded hideaway, punched the record button, and proceeded to pound out an astounding 52-minute improvised solo. When it was finished, he christened it Normalizer 2 and offered it as a sort of gift to a handful of his favorite guitarists, relishing the prospect of each adding his own signature madness to the mix.

Mike Keneally was someone Marco hoped would dig the idea. In the throes of recording his intense and complex Scambot 1 opus, Mike leapt at Marco's offer the creation of Evidence of Humanity would be a joyous, freewheeling counterpoint to his meticulous work on Scambot. ""A fun ride,"" Mike would recall. (Of course, Marco recorded his own fantastic version, too, available at marcominnemann.com.)

The ecstatic result is two of the world's foremost musicians improvising together, but not at the same time. It's a record unlike any other that Mike has recorded (but probably closest to Nonkertompf, his indefinable, mostly instrumental 1999 solo extravaganza). Evidence of Humanity seems to have a life of its own, mutating and maturing with each listen.

Accompanying the Evidence of Humanity CD is a region-free NTSC DVD containing a tasty reimagining of the original concept. This time, Mike and Marco got together in real time and vaulted into the ether for another 52-minute musical improvisation, a feat that was videotaped for your pleasure. The DVD also includes an insightful conversation between the two kindred musical spirits, shot in the back seat of a car hurtling toward the cover shoot in the Southern California desert's dilapidated Salton Sea.

Evidence of Humanity's songs:

• Respect?
• Evidence of Humanity
• Three People Run Naked Through School
• Tooth and Cold Stone Pew
• Now
• Bastards Into Battle
• You, And Your Problems
• Bad Friday
• Rough Time At The Hotel
• Whoa
• Kaa
• Clown Removal
• Forgive and Remember
• Apex Music
• Our Collective Wisdom To Date
• Trying
• A Place to Stay For The Night

Evidence of Humanity DVD's selections:

• Elements of a Manatee live duo improv (54:54)
• A Conversation with Mike and Marco (39:59)