The Guitar Player's Resource
Being called the "greatest undiscovered band in the world" by Electronic Musician magazine certainly qualifies the four-piece group known as Djam Karet for our Undiscovered column. Their CD Burning The Hard City is a reissue of their 1991 release and features dual guitars (Gayle Ellett, Mike Henderson), keyboards, bass (Henry J. Osborne) and drums (Chuck Oken, Jr.) on seven extended tracks (six of which clock in at over eight minutes). The music offers tons of guitar histrionics, feedback, improvisations and, of course, wailing guitar solos (sometimes four to a tune). Having been compared to King Crimson and Pink Floyd, Djam Karet nevertheless delivers a signature hard, progressive, and futuristic sounding collection on Burning The Hard City. It's highly unlikely fans of instrumental prog would be disappointed by this Southern California band's recorded output -- unique and visionary. Djam Karet was originally profiled in the June-July, 2000 edition of The Undiscovered.
Established in the fall of 1984, Djam Karet grew out of the ashes of several Los Angeles based bands with the desire to play purely improvisational music, regardless of its popularity or accessibility. Their original performances took place at various colleges and universities in the L.A. area and the music was a free-form mixture of guitar-dominated instrumental rock and textural eastern drone music. Released in the fall of 1987, their album "The Ritual Continues" finally brought Djam Karet the recognition they deserved. They've been together for 15 years now, have 10 albums out and have received reviews in Rolling Stone, Billboard, Guitar Player, Keyboard and host of other national publications.
Djam Karet also does film and television soundtracks, having written music for six TV series (including Hard Copy), as well as TV commercials, and films (including "The Search").
Djam Karet
United States
Web site: www.djamkaret.com