Tuesday, September 2, 2014

CASSETTE REVIEW:Ricart/Millevoi Quartet "Haitian Rail" (New Atlantis Recordings)


            Having the word “quartet” in your name implies a certain amount of classical training and I think the only real example of when this wasn’t true was when Ben Folds had his Five but they were really only three anyway so screw those guys.   The Ricart/Millevoi Quartet certainly does not mislead you in any way based upon their name, they just kind of amp up their classical sound a bit.

            This is jazzy right off, and it has the qualities of a crazy improv jazz concert to it.   There are horns, yet also hints of rock n roll, which help me to hear some classic rock undertones as well.  The defining factor between this and most other artists you will hear create this sound is the sheer aggressiveness in the delivery of it all.  I haven’t heard a band quite like this since Sweep the Leg Johnny and, well, it has been quite a while since I first heard them.

            Ideally, more bands who have horns and trip over that jazz card punch could probably pull this off if they tried and so why they don’t is beyond me.   It’s those types of artists that let out a horn here and there, in a violent almost thunder striking-like way.   But with this Ricart/Millevoi Quartet, the pace is just closer to that of some sort of maybe indie rock or math rock.

            Can post rock combine with jazz?  This isn’t quite a punk rock infused version of traditional jazz, but it is close.  If I was more aware of all of the subgenres of jazz I could probably define this a lot better, but as I don’t want to delve that deep into jazz at this point in my life (Perhaps when I’m fifty years old), I will simply call this math jazz and let you figure out why.  







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