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Emphasizer

by Garage A Trois

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If ever there was a genre that seemed immune from successful revival, jazz-fusion seemed a prime candidate. But this adventurous debut collaboration from veteran jazz-funksters Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar), Stanton Moore (drums), Mike Dillon (vibes, Percussion,) and Skerik (sax) does more than breath new life into fusion; it imparts it a nervous, electric economy and much-needed tongue-in-cheek sense of mischief. It's no mean feat for players to stretch out as all parties do here, yet maintain a cohesive interplay that's at once focused and musically dynamic. Hunter's compositions "Plena for My Grundle" and "Gat Swamba" evoke vintage jazz Cubano in one corner, while his playing on the squealing, squawking group workouts "A-Frame" and "Delta Skelta" leans on a wholly different sense of aggro-experimentalism. Elsewhere, Stanton's insistent rhythms powers "Interpretive Ape Dance" and the free-for-all "Launch," saxophonist Skerik offers up a savory time out with the bluesy languor of "We See," and Dillon's percussion showcase "House of Hand Wash" conjures a shotgun marriage of Asian motifs and Western minimalism. It's the sort of hip jazz-funk contemporary DJ/mixers like David Holmes struggle to coax from their turntables and samples, but made endlessly more compelling here by four real, live musicians--and one unified, playful spirit. --Jerry McCulley