Mark Varney Project (MVP) was a short-lived collaborative project put together by Mark Varney, brother of

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label founded in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. History Guitarist Marty Friedman (formerly of Megadeth and Cacophony), one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album ''Unsu ...

founder Mike Varney.

''Truth in Shredding''

''Truth in Shredding'' is the first studio album by the Mark Varney Project (MVP), released in 1990 through Legato RecordsTaylor, Robert
"Truth in Shredding - Allan Holdsworth / Frank Gambale / MVP / Mark Varney Project"
'' AllMusic''. RhythmOne. Retrieved 9 April 2020. and reissued on November 4, 2003, through Tone Center Records. Mark founded Legato in the 1980s, which served as a jazz-oriented counterpart to the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

stylings of Shrapnel. This line-up of the group features guitarists Frank Gambale and

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer. Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with respe ...

. Besides one track written by Gambale, the rest are

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

s of existing jazz fusion compositions.

Critical reception

Robert Taylor at AllMusic awarded ''Truth in Shredding'' four stars out of five, calling it "a very intense fusion recording that can be an intimidating listen both in terms of technique and the consistent intensity maintained throughout." He recommended it for fans of

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

and heavy metal, and particularly for younger fans of guitar music, saying they "will appreciate the extended solos and lack of any commercial hooks here." While highlighting Gambale and Holdsworth's outstanding playing abilities, Taylor noted that they "quickly run out of ideas and continuously revert back to familiar territory". Tom Brechtlein's drumming was praised as a "fine performance".

Track listing

Personnel

* Frank Gambale – guitar, engineering, mixing, production *

– guitar, SynthAxe, overdub engineering *Freddy Ravel –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Tom Brechtlein –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Jimmy Earl James Christopher Earl (born 1957) is an American jazz bass guitarist who is a member of the ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' band. Early life and education In 1957, James Christopher Earl was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to James and Sylvia Earl. He i ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Steve Tavaglione – saxophone, EWI *Robert M. Biles – engineering *Mark Varney – executive production

''Centrifugal Funk''

''Centrifugal Funk'' is the second and final studio album by the Mark Varney Project (MVP), released in 1991 through Legato Records; a

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ed edition was reissued in 2004 through Tone Center Records.Taylor, Robert
"Centrifugal Funk - MVP"
'' AllMusic''.

All Media Network RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publi ...

. Retrieved 2015-07-08. This line-up of the group features guitarists Frank Gambale,

Brett Garsed Brett Edward Garsed (born 20 April 1963) is an Australian musician and songwriter, best known for his work as a guitarist with John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich, as well as being a former member of the American band Nelson. Garsed was feature ...

and Shawn Lane.Monk, Laurie (2010-06-13)
"Mark Varney: Legato interview with Laurie Monk"
Truth In Shredding. Retrieved 2015-07-08. The album consists primarily of covers of existing jazz fusion compositions, save for one track performed by Lane—"Lane's Blitz"—which he later dismissed as an impromptu warm-up rather than a planned solo, and thus his dislike for it.Hallebeek, Richard (March–April 2001)
"Shawn Lane + lesson"
. richardhallebeek.com. Retrieved 2015-07-08. Varney has disputed Lane's version of events, but the track was omitted on the remaster. The cover art on the original release features a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer to listeners: "Warning: Contains guitar performances of unparalleled speed, taste and virtuosity. Not for the faint of heart!", while the back cover has an invitation from Varney asking fans to send in

demo tapes A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

of potential guitarists for his label, in return for a named mention within the credits on a future album, as well as five Legato releases mailed to them for free.

Critical reception

Robert Taylor at AllMusic rated ''Centrifugal Funk'' three stars out of five, calling it "an exhausting listen" and the songs "fairly weak". Praise was given to the individual talents of Gambale, Garsed and Lane, while criticism was directed at drummer Joey Heredia. "Hey Tee Bone" and "Love Struck" were listed as highlights.

Track listing

Personnel

* Frank Gambale – guitar (except track 7) *

– guitar (tracks 2, 3, 8) * Shawn Lane – guitar (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 8) *Mike O'Neill – guitar (except track 7) *

T.J. Helmerich T. J. Helmerich is an American musician and audio engineer. Helmerich is known for developing a unique 8-finger style of playing his guitar, a technique he taught to a young Joel Hoekstra as one of his first guitar teachers. He has produced/eng ...

– guitar (track 8),

ing (reissue) *Freddy Ravel –

*Joey Heredia –

*Kevin Ricard – percussion *

–

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, production * Steve Tavaglione – saxophone, EWI *Alan Hirshberg – engineering, mixing, mastering *Mark Varney – musical concept, executive production

Notes

References

External links

MVP "Truth In Shredding"
album review at Guitar Nine Records
EM48 – Remembering Allan Holdsworth Part 3
podcast featuring Frank Gambale

at Guitar Nine Records {{Authority control Frank Gambale albums Allan Holdsworth albums Brett Garsed albums Shawn Lane albums Tone Center Records albums Collaborative albums