This Bristol quintet are champions – or “defenders” – of the arduous bop heritage of greats akin to Horace Silver and Artwork Blakey, gamers who formed the golden age of Blue Observe information again within the Nineteen Fifties and 60s. They aren’t, nonetheless, mere nostalgists – their materials is authentic and various. Their third album crackles with vitality and glistens with talent. At its coronary heart is much-travelled keyboard participant George Cooper, who produces and composes most of their materials. Opener Meanderthal units the template: funky rhythms and a joint sax and trumpet motif adopted by solos which are by no means indulgent.
Pushed alongside by Kasabian drummer Ian Matthews, the tempo tends to be excessive – Snakebite Playfight is a high-wire act, a bit of sinuous ensemble taking part in – however there are moodier moments akin to Take a Minute, with Cooper on vibraphone, and a fascinating rap outing by Doc Brown, Rolling on a Excessive, redolent of Guru’s Jazzmatazz. The liner notice writes of “the enjoyment that reside music can convey”, and the album closes with a contemplative seven-minute duet between piano and bass recorded final yr, a distinction to all the things that’s gone earlier than. A category act.
