[.ca] Emphasizer

From Amazon.com:
If ever there was a genre that seemed immune from successful revival, jazz-fusion seemed a prime candidate. But this adventurous debut collaboration from veteran jazz-funksters Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar), Stanton Moore (drums), Mike Dillon (vibes, Percussion,) and Skerik (sax) does more than breath new life into fusion; it imparts it a nervous, electric economy and much-needed tongue-in-cheek sense of mischief. It's no mean feat for players to stretch out as all parties do here, yet maintain a cohesive interplay that's at once focused and musically dynamic. Hunter's compositions "Plena for My Grundle" and "Gat Swamba" evoke vintage jazz Cubano in one corner, while his playing on the squealing, squawking group workouts "A-Frame" and "Delta Skelta" leans on a wholly different sense of aggro-experimentalism. Elsewhere, Stanton's insistent rhythms powers "Interpretive Ape Dance" and the free-for-all "Launch," saxophonist Skerik offers up a savory time out with the bluesy languor of "We See," and Dillon's percussion showcase "House of Hand Wash" conjures a shotgun marriage of Asian motifs and Western minimalism. It's the sort of hip jazz-funk contemporary DJ/mixers like David Holmes struggle to coax from their turntables and samples, but made endlessly more compelling here by four real, live musicians--and one unified, playful spirit. --Jerry McCulley

The thing I like about this disc . . .:
. . . is that the lads'll try anything. The thing I don't like about it is that it's so dang hard to get it to play properly in my Windows Media Player. See, it's one of those enhanced discs, and it never seems to load without crashing my system. OK, I've probably got a dinosaur computer and a media player that's three generations old. But it's still annoying. But it's all worth the effort. Garage a Trois is the future of jazz. Hip without being smug; multilingual sans carpetbagging; able to leap tall styles in a single bound. Proof: "Sprung Monkey." You're in Cumbia-land gone berserk, but it all makes sense. And the vibe continues unabated with "Plena for my Grundle" (great faux-Latinesque meaningless title with huge evocativeness). "A-Frame," the next cut, is pschedelic funk on uppers. Very groovy, and very scary. Charlie Hunter's wah-wah guitar scintillates. Indeed, Hunter stands tall throughout. He seems to have found the ideal context for his eight-string, bass/guitar hybrid. And Stanton Moore rules. The free-flowing vibe seems to enable him to unleash his most creative and percussive drumming. He's never sounded so good (check out his playing on "Get Swamba"). It's a mistake to think of this as a funk record, in my view. There're just too many other styles in play: garage, groove, psychedelic, free jazz, R & B, Latin, East Indian, lounge, Delta blues, gamelon, surf, to name just a few. What amazes is their ability to speak in all these cultural tongues with such glibness and spunk without sounding in the least stilted or inappropriately virtuostic: They're basically just having fun (albeit at a stratospheric level). And so will the listener.

Rocks! A lot of fun!:
I picked this up after hearing one song on XM radio. I'm happy I did! Very hip, fun to drive, party and lounge to. A little slow and a little repetitive in parts so no 5 stars, but hey, the rest is really great. The videos to play on your CD-ROM are pretty worthless but the links are cool. It's music you can't feel bad while listening to... and that's a good thing.

Not funky:
Emphasizer isn't about funk. It seems to be an experiment of sorts. If I had to assign it a genre based solely on the music, I'd probably put it in the "world beat" section. These are talented musicians showing their diversity, but if you're looking for something along the lines of these guys' other work, look elsewhere. If you are lucky enough to have heard Garage a Trois's previous release, the vinyl-only Mysteryfunk EP, you know that it featured extremely raw funky grooves and some of the sickest beats known to man. I was expecting the same in Emphasizer, but unfortunately it's not here.

Good offering, but does not represent.:
This CD doesn't really represent what these guys do live, but it has some interesting moments. My complaint is at 42 minutes (plus CD-rom capabilities with video) it's much to short. These guys play 3hour shows with endless upbeat jams, and the tunes here are in the 3-4 minute range and more subdued.

5 stars? Sure, why not...:
A few years back, drummer Stanton Moore teamed up with guitarist Charlie Hunter and saxophonist Sherik to record his first solo album, and the sessions resulted in both a solo album (All Kooked Out!) and a new band, Garage a Trois. Previously, their only release was a vinyl EP which no one I know has heard. So lucky for us who don't have functioning turntables, they recorded again and released it as a full length CD this time around, although they're no longer a threesome, as Mike Dillon, Sherik's multi-percusionist pal from Critters Buggin, has joined up with them. I would've found this album worth my time if only to hear these particular musicians play, as they are a blessed bunch talentwise, but to my good fortune, I found this CD had more to offer musically than just an opportunity for four guys to demo their chops. Although earthy, loose funk-jazz is Garage a Trois' starting point (which they do very well), they don't limit themselves to just that. The latin grooves of "GAT Swamba" and "Plena for My Grundle," the asiatic marimba piece "House of Hand Wash," and the tribal percussion cadences and weird Middle Eastern melody of "Interpretive Ape Dance" demonstrate that this band has no intention of being an one trick pony. And although some tracks, in my opinion, could have been better -- the slick funk of "A-Frame" could be a bit dirtier, the electro-rock-blues of "Delta Skelta" a bit less conventional, and their rendition of Monk's lyrical "We See" less reverent -- nothing on this disc could be considered filler. Everything they do, they seem to strive to do well and in good taste. Probably as the result of these musicians' varied backgrounds and experience, the music throughout this CD maintains an impressive degree of creativity, adventure and energetic drive without losing cohesion or slipping into banality. Each musician gets his fair shot at the spotlight -- and each time, they step up quite willingly to make the most of it -- so the music has a good balance of each of their contributions. More diverse than Moore's solo work, grittier than the Charlie Hunter Quartet, jazzier than Critters Buggin, and a lot meatier and juicier than most of the jazz releases I've heard this year so far, this ensemble shows a lot of potential to make music that's not quite like any of its members' previous work, even if it's just a side project for all of them. I, for one, certainly hope they will continue working together in the near future, because this CD isn't as predictable as one might suspect, and what's more, it's a lot of fun. Take a peek, and the music will wink back at you. Give it a minute more, and it'll flash a big, toothy grin. These guys have their fair share or more of talent, but thankfully, they don't let that get in their way of a good time.

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