CD REVIEW
3 stars
JUSTIFIABLY The Java Quartet has many loyal fans. But will they follow bandleader Michael Galeazzi on his postgraduate research relating transcendental qualities of modal jazz (Miles, Coltrane) to traditional Hindustani music and modern dance electronica?
Fans of digital culture may rave at the result, dubbed “jazz you can dare to dance to”, in which a hip-hop artist, vocalist, sarod and tabla players join Galeazzi (bass), Matthew Ottignon (sax), Greg Coffin (piano) and Mike Quigley (drums).
Yet lovers of the quartet’s five previous albums may prefer the originals of tracks re-imagined here. Some — Little Boy, Shadow Dancing — seem to add on, not re-invent. Galeazzi’s challenge — partly met — is to forge a new unity from these disparate influences.
File between: Flanger, Bill Laswell
CD launch: Sunday, August 22, Bennetts Lane, Melbourne
ROGER MITCHELL
This review appeared in the Play section of the Sunday Herald Sun on August 15, 2010
Ausjazz Blog 