Planetary Coalition (Alex Skolnick's Planetary Coalition)

Guitarist Alex Skolnick was the lead guitarist for the thrash-metal band Testament in the ‘80s, but by 1992 he’d moved to NYC where he studied jazz and improvisation, subsequently recording a series of well-received jazz albums of originals and interpretations of rock material. Here he’s expanded his musical worldview again with a mostly acoustic and rigorously diverse collection of material with help of 27 musicians from five continents. Highlights include the hard rock–meets–Middle Eastern “Rock the Ramallah,” “Playa La Ropa” with the flamenco-rock guitar duo Rodrigo & Gabriela, and the traditional Malian song “Alle La k’e.”