Mike Irwin Johnson’s 8 Legged Monster, “Vol. 2”

Edward Blanco reviewed Vol. 2, the second album by 8 Legged Monster, a nine-piece band from the San Francisco Bay Area led by guitarist Mike Irwin Johnson that plays everything from bebop and swing to free jazz.

Blanco heard a clear step forward from the band's debut of two years earlier and pointed to the Duke Ellington influence in Johnson's eight original compositions, with solos from bassist Eric Markowitz, trumpeter Mike Olmos and the reed section on tracks such as Or Something and Bait.

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