West, Rich / Mayo Grout's Known Universe
Album: Mayo Grout's Known Universe   Collection:Jazz
Artist:West, Rich   Added:Apr 2009
Label:PfMENTUM  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2009-06-28 Pull Date: 2009-08-30 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Aug 30 Aug 23 Aug 9 Jul 26 Jul 19 Jul 12 Jul 5
Airplays: 2 2 1 1 1 3 1

Recent Airplay
1. Aug 29, 2009: Party at Grandma's
Es-I
4. Aug 18, 2009: Jena & Gomorrah (sub)
I'm A Cockroach; Adapt, Adapt - Part 1
2. Aug 28, 2009: Memory Select - Joe Maneri Edition
Five Lane Paradise
5. Aug 06, 2009: The Alternatives
Short I Am
3. Aug 22, 2009: Music Casserole
Es-I
6. Jul 24, 2009: Memory Select
Five Lane Paradise

Album Review
Wedge
Reviewed 2009-06-25
A strange rock/jazz experiment that's catchy yet... out there. Rock guitar overlaid with horns and flute for a jazzy tone. "Rock" guitar meaning... well check out the solo on #2, it's like something out of a bar-band/jam-band power trio world. Yet the songs also have flute and sax in composed lines that sound classical or modern-jazzy.

Kind of a jamming feel, with rhythms you can get into and some passages of sophistication. There's a bit of a wild mood overall, but most of the tempos are in a restrained mid/fast range.

Check out the CD booklet for the Mayo Grout story, which is not as sci-fi as the pictures look like.

1- A deep, cool groove, slow and thick like molasses, with some trumpet & flute on top. Epic. Opens w/monologue in a gravely Tom Waits voice for about 3 minutes, which comes back around -6:30. After -4:30, a more full sound, slowly jazzy.
2- Midtempo riffing, a steady hard beat w/lowdown guitar solo
3- Faux loungy vocal, lyrical random silliness. Floating, open-aired stretches with sax and flute, midtempo, languid
4- "Boonga-boonga" voice chant. Bursts into a strident, jazzy riff. Upbeat, exploratory, multi-phased
5- A mid/fast breeziness, after some whistling and military snare drum
6- Gets into a nice digging groove.
7- Starts slow and spare but gets into a robust free jam behind a good rhythm.

Track Listing
1. I'm A Cockroach; Adapt, Adapt - Part 1   5. I'm A Cockroach; Adapt, Adapt - Part 2
2. Short I Am   6. Five Lane Paradise
3. On Her Wrists She Wore Her Interest   7. Es-I
4. Newness   .