ÍøÆغÚÁÏ

An important figure in the development of dance music, especially trance, U.K. producer and DJ Matt Darey released his first single in 1992, signing to Warner Bros. shortly thereafter and issuing a series of records -- either under his own name or as one of his various aliases (as a member of Lost Tribe, for example) or in collaboration with others -- including 1994's "Point Zero" and 2000's "Beautiful," and the Euphoria series. In 2000 Darey took a break to travel around the world, returning to music in 2003 and starting his own label, Darey Productions. In 2005 the EP Point Zero (which included the title song) came out in the U.S., followed by Upfront Trance, an album of both remixes and originals that the DJ said reflected his club set. In 2007 Nocturnal, a compilation of material from Darey's radio show of the same name, hit shelves. ~ Marisa Brown

Lost Tribe didn't so much start out as a band but as a collective of excellent studio musicians working on the side. Like the 1970s British group Brand X (Phil Collins' jazz fusion alter ego getaway from Genesis), Lost Tribe became a melting pot of the styles popular in the 1990s, mixing rhythmic jazz and rock with even some hip-hop elements. Saxophonist David Binney's sparse lines and the twin-guitar assault of Adam Rogers and David Gilmore blended above the rhythmic muscle of bassist Fima Ephron and drummer Ben Perowsky on Lost Tribe's self-titled 1993 debut CD. Most of the music was instrumental, but the occasional rap track ("Letter to the Editor") and chanted vocal ("Mofungo") provided a changeup between dizzying jazz fusion pieces like "Mythology" and "Cause & Effect." The group's 1994 follow-up, Soulfish, was even harder-edged without losing any rhythmic focus. Perowsky's thunderous drumming on "Whodunit" and the guitar interplay on "Second Story," "Planet Rock," and "Fuzzy Logic" made for a nouveau fusion of funk and metal. But just as a collective from the rap-jazz-opera hybrid the Screaming Headless Torsos (Ephron), jazz fusion guitarist Mike Stern (Perowsky) and African-influenced jazz saxophonist Steve Coleman (Gilmore) was required for Lost Tribe's elemental sound, the nature of the session musicians' beast had to signal an eventual slowdown. Binney released solo CDs and Rogers focused on freelance work while Ephron, Perowsky, and Gilmore (ever-confused with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour) toured and recorded elsewhere over the next four years. By the time Lost Tribe released Many Lifetimes in 1998, Gilmore had left the band, as much to pursue teaching as playing. The titles alone ("The River," "Kyoto," "Jordan") signaled a kinder, gentler, and more melodic Lost Tribe -- but not without fiery moments, especially from Ephron and Perowsky. Adding percussion and Fender Rhodes electric piano to his regular duties on Many Lifetimes, the regular touring drummer for Stern shows why there's no road -- letdown after the guitarist records with virtuosos like Dennis Chambers or Vinnie Colaiuta. And the spectacular yet virtually unknown bassist is now a part of both guitarist David Fiuczynski's vocal (Screaming Headless Torsos) and instrumental (Headless Torsos) groups, so there's no telling when Lost Tribe will be in session (in the studio or on stage) again. ~ Bill Meredith