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WANDERING MONSTER
Ubuntu UBU0023
Sam Quintana - bass; Ben Powling - sax; Calvin Travers - guitar; Aleks Podraza - piano, rhodes, organ; Tom Higham - drums
Quintana’s accurate, full-toned bass leads this band of young Leeds graduates through a program of original compositions in the popular contemporary style that you might be tempted to label ‘post-jazz-rock’. There’s an emphasis on melody and rhythm, with the sort complex lines over backbeats favoured by the jazz-rock pioneers of the 70s, but updated for a post-millennial sensibilities - more acoustic instruments engendering a more reflective, less overtly flashy approach.
The arrangements are carefully plotted, with lots of super-tight unison work, but there’s also plenty of room for the soloists to stretch out - pianist Podraza contributes an excellent Hancockcian excursion over some adventurous harmonic changes on ‘The Rush Begins’, and ‘Tuco’ gives sax player Ben Powling his head over an Avishai Cohen style ostinato that switches unexpectedly to a straight 4/4 swing, before guitarist Calvin Travers expands the sonic landscape with some exciting washes of distortion. Cohen is a founder stylist for this kind of music, as is guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and the Joe Locke/Geoff Keezer group, and ultimately the 1970s output of Pat Metheny lurks in its genetic makeup - a less bombastic approach to jazz-rock. There’s a measured precision to the playing from the whole ensemble and nobody puts a foot wrong; despite Quintana’s claim to be influenced by modern metal the writing has a melancholic minor-key edge and overall sense of restraint that makes the album a pleasant listen rather than a challenging one.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Ubuntu UBU0023
Sam Quintana - bass; Ben Powling - sax; Calvin Travers - guitar; Aleks Podraza - piano, rhodes, organ; Tom Higham - drums
Quintana’s accurate, full-toned bass leads this band of young Leeds graduates through a program of original compositions in the popular contemporary style that you might be tempted to label ‘post-jazz-rock’. There’s an emphasis on melody and rhythm, with the sort complex lines over backbeats favoured by the jazz-rock pioneers of the 70s, but updated for a post-millennial sensibilities - more acoustic instruments engendering a more reflective, less overtly flashy approach.
The arrangements are carefully plotted, with lots of super-tight unison work, but there’s also plenty of room for the soloists to stretch out - pianist Podraza contributes an excellent Hancockcian excursion over some adventurous harmonic changes on ‘The Rush Begins’, and ‘Tuco’ gives sax player Ben Powling his head over an Avishai Cohen style ostinato that switches unexpectedly to a straight 4/4 swing, before guitarist Calvin Travers expands the sonic landscape with some exciting washes of distortion. Cohen is a founder stylist for this kind of music, as is guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and the Joe Locke/Geoff Keezer group, and ultimately the 1970s output of Pat Metheny lurks in its genetic makeup - a less bombastic approach to jazz-rock. There’s a measured precision to the playing from the whole ensemble and nobody puts a foot wrong; despite Quintana’s claim to be influenced by modern metal the writing has a melancholic minor-key edge and overall sense of restraint that makes the album a pleasant listen rather than a challenging one.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
