INTRANSIT – Barlovento
That Hat (Download only)
Gabriel Keen (keyboards); Colin McKenzie (bass guitar); George Hart (drums); Maurizio Ravalico (percussion)
Recorded – no date given
Formed in 2012 by Scottish born, London based bass guitarist, Colin McKenzie, this is the debut album by Intransit featuring seven original compositions. As the instrumentation of the band would perhaps indicate, the music performed is very much in the jazz-rock/fusion setting.
It is perhaps at this point that unfortunately some readers of this review may go looking elsewhere for their fix and this would be a shame. The mere mention of the genre still has the effect of sending jazz purists running for the hills, and quite why fusion should be regarded as a dirty word is a mystery; after all jazz has always been a hybrid music, embracing many musical cultures from its earliest days in New Orleans, through to the Cuban influences in bebop with Dizzy Gillespie and right up to the present day. However, that is a debate for another day, and it is the music of Barlovernto that is the topic of discussion.
As one would expect from a line up with drums and percussion there is significant emphasis placed on the rhythmic axis of the band, and the both Hart and Ravalico acquit themselves with honours, allowing each other the space to contribute freely without danger of clashing, and when combined with McKenzie’s bass guitar provides a lithe and supple foundation for the keyboards of Gabriel Keen. This is highly evident in the sheer exuberance of ‘Return of the Man’, with Keen’s lyrically dancing solo, and puts me in mind of keyboard maestro, Josef Zawinul.
Indeed, perhaps my only source of reference would be that of the great Weather Report, reminding me very much of the excellent Night Passage set from the early eighties. This is not to imply that Intransit are mere shadows of Zawinul and Shorter’s seminal outfit as McKenzie and his cohorts are mining a creative area that has sadly been neglected in the UK.
In summary, Intransit have produced an album that is brimful of catchy themes and rhythmic hooks, and have the necessary experience and skill to turn these into memorable compositions with a hidden depth that comes to the fore with repeated hearings.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
That Hat (Download only)
Gabriel Keen (keyboards); Colin McKenzie (bass guitar); George Hart (drums); Maurizio Ravalico (percussion)
Recorded – no date given
Formed in 2012 by Scottish born, London based bass guitarist, Colin McKenzie, this is the debut album by Intransit featuring seven original compositions. As the instrumentation of the band would perhaps indicate, the music performed is very much in the jazz-rock/fusion setting.
It is perhaps at this point that unfortunately some readers of this review may go looking elsewhere for their fix and this would be a shame. The mere mention of the genre still has the effect of sending jazz purists running for the hills, and quite why fusion should be regarded as a dirty word is a mystery; after all jazz has always been a hybrid music, embracing many musical cultures from its earliest days in New Orleans, through to the Cuban influences in bebop with Dizzy Gillespie and right up to the present day. However, that is a debate for another day, and it is the music of Barlovernto that is the topic of discussion.
As one would expect from a line up with drums and percussion there is significant emphasis placed on the rhythmic axis of the band, and the both Hart and Ravalico acquit themselves with honours, allowing each other the space to contribute freely without danger of clashing, and when combined with McKenzie’s bass guitar provides a lithe and supple foundation for the keyboards of Gabriel Keen. This is highly evident in the sheer exuberance of ‘Return of the Man’, with Keen’s lyrically dancing solo, and puts me in mind of keyboard maestro, Josef Zawinul.
Indeed, perhaps my only source of reference would be that of the great Weather Report, reminding me very much of the excellent Night Passage set from the early eighties. This is not to imply that Intransit are mere shadows of Zawinul and Shorter’s seminal outfit as McKenzie and his cohorts are mining a creative area that has sadly been neglected in the UK.
In summary, Intransit have produced an album that is brimful of catchy themes and rhythmic hooks, and have the necessary experience and skill to turn these into memorable compositions with a hidden depth that comes to the fore with repeated hearings.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
