Record Reviews

EABS ~ DISCIPLINE OF SUN RA ASTIGMATIC 015 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 The Polish Jazz ensemble EABSFind albums by this artist continues to produce young and bouncy contemporary Jazz, based on the tradition but at the same time sparkling with contemporary Pop culture and universally good taste, which naturally makes them extremely likeable to the young listeners. Following their interpretations of Polish Jazz classics they now move to the international scene taking up on the music of Sun RaFind albums by this artist as the basis of their new album. Keyboardist Marek PedziwiatrFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel StachowiakFind albums by this artist, drummer Marcin RakFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Olaf WegierFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Jakub KurekFind albums by this artist and percussionist / sound effects man Spisek JednegoFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Piotr SkorupskiFind albums by this artist) dissect seven original compositions by Sun Ra, the Jazz cosmonaut, created between 1957 and 1979 and give them a kick towards the dancing floor. The interpretations are pretty bold and one might wonder if the composer himself would have recognized his own compositions in most cases, but as far as I am concerned this music is way more acceptable to me than the original compositions, which of course speaks volumes as to my personal appreciation of Ra´s music, which I find exceptionally boring. With the twist added by EABS, it finally does make sense and the lads certainly seem to have a lot of fun with it, which is fine with me. As strange as it might sound, to me this is probably the best studio work by EABS so far, since they finally crystallized their formulas and managed to achieve the ideal mix of melodic riffs, extended soloing, sense of humor and fun, all combined together to perfection. As a result listening to this album is unadulterated fun from start to finish, creating a sort of idiosyncratic sub genre of Jazz, which is purified wonderful weirdness. I mean where else would one come across Free Form soloing, polyrhythmic banging and constantly shifting tempi, rapping and sound effects all making such wonderful sense together? Zappaesque madness at it´s best… And yes, these guys can play… I mean really play, all of them… just listen. Everybody gets his opportunity to show off, and it is all worth waiting for. In short EABS are way more cosmic than the inspiration for this album, believe you me… Well done Gentlemen, regardless what other smartasses might say! Love your stuff!

Updated: 22/12/2020Posted: 22/12/2020

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