Like the Shore Is to the Ocean

Montreal Gazette Article

     

"The new release is a more focused attack by a real band. It’s often reminiscent of Kobayashi, with rapping and scratching, big band and bebop and some funky grooves from the rhythm section.

Album opener Logarhythm, with strutting sax lines reminiscent of King Curtis, is what Proietti called a “real dirty, gritty funk song. I love playing stuff where the audience can’t help but bob their heads. When we play that, even the stiffest, straightest dude is going ….,” he said, words trailing off as he physically illustrated the up-and-down head motion of the instantly-converted spectator.

Two large ensemble tracks on the new disc, arranged by trumpet player Alex Gutjahr, bring the group’s elements together. The ballad Away From the Sound and Fury – recorded in two takes, without overdubs – sounds like it could be a jazz standard in the making, while a new local national anthem, Montreal, blends big band and hip hop. DShade, formerly of the rap trio Shades of Culture, shared the vocal duties on the track with the band’s regular singer, Jonathan Emile."