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So here is something to know: among the
masses of promos that are sent to EvilSponge
there are some promos for jazz artists.
Yes, people still make jazz of all types,
from the free improvised stuff (it's "free"
because no one would pay for that kind of
thing), to more structured, song-based jazz. I
enjoy the second kind of stuff well enough,
and so I end up listening to all of these jazz
records. The things I do for you people...
I mention this because Nicole McCabe is a
jazz musician. She is a saxophonist working in
Los Angeles. And I find that what McCabe is
doing here to be pretty engaging. McCabe plays
traditional style jazz sax over a background
of electronic music – synths and keys and drum
beats. The formula works.
Several of the tracks here stand out to me. I
think my favorite track is Balloon Race,
where she collaborates with drummer Justin
Brown. It starts off with a great tinkling
rhythm, the drums and some keyboard bouncing
along, fun. Her horn comes in and meanders a
bit, and then in the middle of the song the
horn stops and a xylophone clatters with Brown
goes berserk with the drumming – not loud, but
all over the place, a sparse explosion of
drumming. Then things calm back down, the horn
comes back, and the song happily cruises to
the end. Really well done.
Change In Scenery features McCabe
collaborating with pianist Paul Cornish and
bassist Logan Kane. The bass is a great
thumping, and McCabe's horn is playful with
long notes. But Cornish really makes this one,
with a joyful piano bit in the middle that
reminds me of Snoopy dancing. Then again,
really fun bouncing jazz piano always makes me
think of Peanuts cartoons... Still,
this is very fun.
Also of note is Prism Prison which
features horn, wandering synths, and burbling
electronics. It's like Autechre remixing
Hiroshima, and is actually pretty cool.
And that is my conclusion on the whole album:
this is cool and fun. It's one of the better
jazz records I have heard in several years,
and I like what McCabe is doing. If you have
any interest in jazz, you should give this a
listen.
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