VECTOR FAMILIES - For Those About To Jazz/Rock We Salute You
Sunnyside: SSC 1488
Anthony Cox: electric bass, cello; Dean Granros: guitar, midi guitar; Dave King: drums, percussion; Brandon Wozniak: saxophone
Recorded by Jason Orris at the Terrarium.
The set opens with the sort of decibel levels and spacing between instruments that you’d expect from the classic rock album alluded to in the CD’s title (AC/DC’s masterpiece, in case you were in any confusion). This opening track, ‘Free funk!’, also points to the musical and rhythmic complexities that the group explores. There is more than a little of the ways in which Coleman’s theory of Harmolodics allowed musicians to work from rhythmic and thematic ideas. Not surprisingly, the band cover Coleman’s ‘Dee dee’ (from his Golden Circle recording), and they do so with enough respect for the song’s structure and Coleman’s philosophy for this to be an excellent tribute, but also with enough swagger and sass to make you think that Coleman would smile at their approach.
But just as you’ve got the band pegged, the next track, ‘Duetz Duetz’ begins with gentle cello and guitar, segueing into guitar and drums, and then drums and saxophone…the transitions between each of the duets is so seamlessly handled that it is easy to miss the fact that at any time there are only two instruments at work. This confirms the sense that you’re listening to some very special musicians at work. Indeed, Dave King is probably better known for the band The Bad Plus and there is the free-wheeling spirit of that group at work here. But there is also an enthusiasm for pushing musical, rhythmical and instrumental limits. So, you can’t fault the band’s experimental ambitions when they provide cover Ellington’s ‘Satin doll’ – with the ‘piano’ being ‘played’ through a game controller (and, perhaps, a gamepad needs more buttons or Granros needs faster fingers for this to really work ) with Wozniak’s sax offering a droll commentary on the progression of the piece.
Ultimately, while the title and the opening track might lead to expect some thumping rock, the band provide a far more nuanced take on jazz and create a mix of sounds that made me keep pressing repeat to see how they’d made the pieces work in that way that they do.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Sunnyside: SSC 1488
Anthony Cox: electric bass, cello; Dean Granros: guitar, midi guitar; Dave King: drums, percussion; Brandon Wozniak: saxophone
Recorded by Jason Orris at the Terrarium.
The set opens with the sort of decibel levels and spacing between instruments that you’d expect from the classic rock album alluded to in the CD’s title (AC/DC’s masterpiece, in case you were in any confusion). This opening track, ‘Free funk!’, also points to the musical and rhythmic complexities that the group explores. There is more than a little of the ways in which Coleman’s theory of Harmolodics allowed musicians to work from rhythmic and thematic ideas. Not surprisingly, the band cover Coleman’s ‘Dee dee’ (from his Golden Circle recording), and they do so with enough respect for the song’s structure and Coleman’s philosophy for this to be an excellent tribute, but also with enough swagger and sass to make you think that Coleman would smile at their approach.
But just as you’ve got the band pegged, the next track, ‘Duetz Duetz’ begins with gentle cello and guitar, segueing into guitar and drums, and then drums and saxophone…the transitions between each of the duets is so seamlessly handled that it is easy to miss the fact that at any time there are only two instruments at work. This confirms the sense that you’re listening to some very special musicians at work. Indeed, Dave King is probably better known for the band The Bad Plus and there is the free-wheeling spirit of that group at work here. But there is also an enthusiasm for pushing musical, rhythmical and instrumental limits. So, you can’t fault the band’s experimental ambitions when they provide cover Ellington’s ‘Satin doll’ – with the ‘piano’ being ‘played’ through a game controller (and, perhaps, a gamepad needs more buttons or Granros needs faster fingers for this to really work ) with Wozniak’s sax offering a droll commentary on the progression of the piece.
Ultimately, while the title and the opening track might lead to expect some thumping rock, the band provide a far more nuanced take on jazz and create a mix of sounds that made me keep pressing repeat to see how they’d made the pieces work in that way that they do.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
