Moment And The Message

JONATHAN FINLAYSON & SICILIAN DEFENSE: Moment & the Message
Pi, 2013

AVANT-JAZZ – East Bay native Finlayson has established a strong reputation as trumpeter in Steve Coleman’s Five Elements and other cutting-edge projects. Now he makes his debut as leader of a solid, complex quintet. The tunes all share a multi-layered feel, geometric angularity, and hopscotch movement that reflect the chess-inspired band name and also show a lot of Coleman’s rhythmic influence.

Jonathan Finlayson : trumpet
Miles Okazaki : guitar
David Virelles : piano
Keith Witty : bass
Damion Reid : drums

All quite good. Fo’s Picks: 2, 3, 4, 6

1. 7:42 – 1st half: geometric, chugging, lopsided; 2nd half: slow & brooding
2. 7:54 – steady, sideways movement; switches to a hopping upbeat rhythm
3. 5:43 – careful, analytical: cool guitar/trumpet dialogue, drums take over late
4. 7:10 – cool, intellectual groove, very tricky: long trumpet solo sounds great
5. 5:37 – solo guitar intro; push/pull tension makes it feel folksy yet edgy too
6. 5:56 – solo piano intro; serious but repetitive riff vs. cool round of solos
7. 4:14 – straining to rise: piano and trumpet tug at the cord
8. 12:40 – starts in suspended animation, slow & very sparse; gradually speeds up and then chugs like a heavy machine; good work from all
9. 6:07 – very angular clomping groove: detached trumpet, scurrying piano

[ Fo ] - 13 June 2013