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Tim Hagans Animation Imagination Two and 1/2 Stars

Animation Imagination thumbs its nose at jazz by going down the techno trail. The only remnants of straight-ahead are those that appear on the first track, The Original Drum and Bass. The rest is sort of an Electronica, Bitches Brew, Headhunters, acid jazz, world thingy with trumpet solos on the top. I can't really decide what the appeal is supposed to be. It's not pop enough to be techno; it's not straight-ahead enough to be jazz. Therefore, we must dub it Fusion. I hate that term, but it catches a lot of exceptions such as this.

To create this sonic collage, Hagans uses samples, loops, and analog synths. He also employs a couple of DJ's to add beats. On the track Hud Doyle, keyboardist Scott Kinsley creates textures that are 100% Patrick Gleeson (the guy that created most of Herbie's spacey sound effects in the early 70's). A few jazz players participate in the fun too: Kevin Hays (remember Josh Redman's first CD?) and Ira Coleman (from Tony Williams' band). They push the energy toward the side of straight-ahead whenever possible (which is not often). And there's the Bob Belden production values, which border on hallucinogenic. He also contributes a few soprano solos.

There are a couple of genuine low points here though. The sleepy synth ballad Love's Lullaby and the repetitious Snakes Kin cause me to grab the remote every time. And in general, I would say this album suffers from Milesitis (a syndrome characterized by excessive trumpet noddling over funk grooves). But the guy can play! Unfortunately this disk will probably end up in the "trying too hard to be current" bin, much like those terrible 70's jazz disco albums. Two and 1/2 Stars.