What is it? It’s jazz but it’s not. Dammit!
The height of the album bait and switch has to be Throbbing Gristle’s 1979 classic 20 Jazz Funk Greats. I still remember from back in my AudioStream days when I wrote about this album and some guy let me have it in the comments—”I know jazz and I know funk and this is not jazz or funk! Dammit!” I may have heard the ‘dammit’ in my head (or emphasis). Still brings a smile to my face as Throbbing Gristle’s mission was accomplished.
vd5 by Vladislav Delay Quintet was released on Finland’s We Jazz Records back in May and it is a wondrous beast of a record for a not so classic quintet lineup—Maria Bertel (trombone), Lucio Capece (soprano and slide saxophones, khene—a traditional free-reed mouth organ native to Thailand), Derek Shirley (bass), Max Loderbauer (Haken continuum & piano), and Vladislav Delay aka. Sasu Ripatti (electronics).
More than jazz, or not jazz, I hear lots of danger, tension, foreboding from a quintet that’s cooking together in perfect time, making for a freefall funhouse ride of a record.