SHALOSH - Onwards And Upwards
ACT – ACT 9885-2
Gadi Stern: piano, rhodes, micro korg; David Michaeli: double bass; Matan Assayag: drums
Recorded October 31st – November 2nd, 2018, by Michael Dahlvid at Nilento Studio, Gothenberg.
Rather endearingly, the liner notes list the bands influences as ‘Nirvana, Brahms and The Bad Plus’ – I say endearingly partly because this spread of musical taste feels captures the broad mindedness of their musical tastes but also because it is the third name on the list that most resonates with their approach to making music. This is more apparent in their choice, and playing of, the two covers here: ‘You’ll never walk alone’ and ‘Take on me’ (the former a show tune that is a staple of Merseyside and the latter a pop song by the band A-ha). Both covers are played in way that cloud the songs with swirling layers of piano arpeggios and rattling drums, only for these clouds to part at unexpected moments for the piano to gentle spell out the tune. Given that The Bad Plus have, on recent recordings, steered a course away from their work with cover versions, this is not a bad move and Shalosh are certainly worthy heirs to this way of reinventing and rocking out familiar tunes. From this perspective, the album’s title is a way of defining how the tunes build in their infectious enthusiasm. A further influence, not listed in the liner notes, is apparent in the title of track 8 ‘Tune for Mr. Ahmad Jamal’ – with a hint of his way with a melody that creates something that has the immediacy of a pop tune while also retaining the sophistication of jazz.
On the other original compositions, the band craft well-balanced tunes and present these with a rhythm section that can shift from moody ballad to rock and back a few times over the course of the tune. I particularly recommend track 6 ‘ Sinan, and his never ending war against the bureaucracy robots’, with its title hinting at a story that the tune does its best to illustrate. This narrative quality in the song writing is also apparent in tunes like ‘The impossible love story of Jackie and Hanan’ and ‘After the war’, which seem to speak of the heritage that a trio growing up in Tel Aviv can share. Indeed, the trio’s Israeli background seeps into some of the phrasing on these tunes, with hints of both klezmer and Arabic motifs sneaking into the pieces but never outstaying their welcome. Rather than this being music of a particular nation, the trio are making an international sound that celebrates a cosmopolitan and optimistic view of the world in spite of the turbulence around them. In this respect, the album’s title is as much a motto to live by as a statement of musical intent.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
ACT – ACT 9885-2
Gadi Stern: piano, rhodes, micro korg; David Michaeli: double bass; Matan Assayag: drums
Recorded October 31st – November 2nd, 2018, by Michael Dahlvid at Nilento Studio, Gothenberg.
Rather endearingly, the liner notes list the bands influences as ‘Nirvana, Brahms and The Bad Plus’ – I say endearingly partly because this spread of musical taste feels captures the broad mindedness of their musical tastes but also because it is the third name on the list that most resonates with their approach to making music. This is more apparent in their choice, and playing of, the two covers here: ‘You’ll never walk alone’ and ‘Take on me’ (the former a show tune that is a staple of Merseyside and the latter a pop song by the band A-ha). Both covers are played in way that cloud the songs with swirling layers of piano arpeggios and rattling drums, only for these clouds to part at unexpected moments for the piano to gentle spell out the tune. Given that The Bad Plus have, on recent recordings, steered a course away from their work with cover versions, this is not a bad move and Shalosh are certainly worthy heirs to this way of reinventing and rocking out familiar tunes. From this perspective, the album’s title is a way of defining how the tunes build in their infectious enthusiasm. A further influence, not listed in the liner notes, is apparent in the title of track 8 ‘Tune for Mr. Ahmad Jamal’ – with a hint of his way with a melody that creates something that has the immediacy of a pop tune while also retaining the sophistication of jazz.
On the other original compositions, the band craft well-balanced tunes and present these with a rhythm section that can shift from moody ballad to rock and back a few times over the course of the tune. I particularly recommend track 6 ‘ Sinan, and his never ending war against the bureaucracy robots’, with its title hinting at a story that the tune does its best to illustrate. This narrative quality in the song writing is also apparent in tunes like ‘The impossible love story of Jackie and Hanan’ and ‘After the war’, which seem to speak of the heritage that a trio growing up in Tel Aviv can share. Indeed, the trio’s Israeli background seeps into some of the phrasing on these tunes, with hints of both klezmer and Arabic motifs sneaking into the pieces but never outstaying their welcome. Rather than this being music of a particular nation, the trio are making an international sound that celebrates a cosmopolitan and optimistic view of the world in spite of the turbulence around them. In this respect, the album’s title is as much a motto to live by as a statement of musical intent.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
