Postcards From The Highwire

KAMIKAZE GROUND CREW: Postcards from the Highwire
Busmeat, 2007

ODDBALL CHAMBER-JAZZ – Hard to pin down as always, this inventive septet (originally from the Bay Area, now based in NYC) mixes up styles and instrumentation but maintains a warm, lighthearted sense of camaraderie. Neither mainstream nor “out,” this group walks its own path, easily bridging old-school and postmodern jazz ideas.

Fo’s Picks: Disc 1 – 2, 4, 6, 7 Disc 2 – 3, 4, 5, 6

DISC ONE:

1. 0:10 – bell tones
2. 4:03 – slow spiraling march, simple repeating melody, layered horns… nice
3. 2:06 – slow, romantic latin piano; cinematic horns & perc, enigmatic end
4. 9:38 – popping sax into a cool horn slide, a touch of funk, breakdown, soloists wrestle with insistent riffs, gloopy bounce near the end
5. 2:51 – slouching horn interlude, roams over melancholy tuba
6. 6:21 – classic blues tune: overlapping horns combine into a lowdown lope
7. 4:47 – swing!: tuba craziness into happy riffs and jaunty solos

DISC TWO:

1. 0:45 – tinkling bells
2. 9:44 – moody piano intro, slow horns speed way up, mellow interlude, builds back into a churning groove, ends as it began
3. 3:57 – Sly Stone tune: Slooow drag at first, perks up to relaxed stroll
4. 12:12 – sneaky groove with bobbing, undulating horns, relaxed sax solo, several murky interludes, trumpet over gliding groove, sparse end
5. 3:42 – Shakespeare as torchy swing ballad; lots of chatter, fades in & out
6. 9:15 – mysterious carnivale atmosphere, surges and slinks; soulful sax solo, haunting accordion, shifts to low drag over reggae beat!

[ Fo ] 28-Oct-07