West ZooOpolis with Marco Minnemann is an ambitious new project with the über-talented German drummer, known for his breathtaking “interdependent ostinati†and heavy polyrhythmic grooves. Five different composers are each writing and recording music around an extraordinary 52 minute improvised drum performance called Normalizer 2. Trey Gunn, Mike Keneally, Alex Machacek, Mario Brinkman, Phi Yaan-Zek, Marco, and John will each contribute their own unique compositional approach. John's production team includes Kevin Freeby on bass and is called West ZooOpolis. Additional guests on John's team include Chris Taylor.
Hectic Watermelon is a new "Post-Zappa Commando-Fusion" band from San Diego-Los Angeles comprised of John Czajkowski on guitars, Darren DeBree on drums, and Harley Magsino on bass. The late 2006 album, The Great America Road Trip, featuring Jerry Goodman (of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Dixie Dregs) is available at Abstract Logix and other stores and received a NUMBER ONE RANKING in the UK Jazzwise Alternative Jazz College Charts!
Czajkowski tours the American landscape by orchestrating a tour of the music that grows there. He’s a monster guitarist with a metal carapace and a creamy jazz center, sprouting hydra heads of classical picking, insinuating slide, and even a particularly funky banjo. - Scott Johnson
Every so often, an album like Hectic Watermelon’s The Great American Road Trip comes along to give me hope that jazz-rock fusion hasn’t collapsed like a poorly-made soufflé under the weight of its own clichés."
- Reviewed by Dave Wayne at Jazz Review
"John McLaughlin’s influence is felt throughout the album, but Frank Zappa is also quite present—not in Czajkowski’s guitar playing, but in his witty writing and sense of humor. Both entertaining and technically impressive, The Great American Road Trip has enough jazz to titillate fusion fans, enough complexity to please the progressively inclined, but most of all (and despite the above statements about Zappa and McLaughlin) it has its own endearing personality. And that, more than anything else is what makes it such a strong debut album. Highly recommended."
- Reviewed by François Couture for the All Music Guide
"A tour de force, (The Great American Road Trip) showcases his dazzling fretwork, contrapuntal ingenuity and impeccable ensemble playing with bassist Harley Magsino and drummer Darren Debree (violinist Goodman is featured on nine of the album's 11 selections)...a virtuoso fusion band…a fleet-fingered guitarist and composer…intricate compositions (that) blend elements of fusion jazz, prog-rock, funk and contemporary classical."
- By George Varga POP MUSIC CRITIC San Diego Union-Tribune
"I absolutely love when an obscure band comes seemingly out from nowhere to kick my behind. Coming at you with a high tech, ultra dense progressive fusion attack, this Navy SEAL-led band has all the talent and imagination (for) the hardest core fusion heads anywhere. And they don't just appeal to that genre, this music has such a unique sound and the players are outrageously gifted, that progressive rock fans that have a flair for instrumental adventure will find more than enough to appeal to their senses."
- MJBrady Prognosis
"With so much competition in the marketplace, musicians can find it difficult to make an original musical statement that separates them from the pack. Not everyone will be a true innovator. But there are musician’s who take their influences, add healthy doses of their own unique talent, and manage to push the musical envelope with their creativity. The music on The Great American Road Trip by Hectic Watermelon is a very good example of that process."
- Rod Sibley Abstract Logix Featured Review