On their followup to their
formidable self-titled debut on RareNoiseRecords in 2013, Mumpbeak again
conjures up memories of vintage King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer,
Gentle Giant and other prog-rock pioneers on Tooth. Led by the innovative
keyboardist-composer and Oslo-based UK expatriate Roy Powell, whose other
RareNoise output includes releases by Interstatic and Naked Truth, and
featuring bassist and longtime collaborator Lorenzo Feliciati (Powell's
bandmate in Naked Truth who has also released the solo albums Frequent Flyer
and KOI on RareNoise), this new edition of the prog-rock-jazz power trio
showcases the remarkable Norwegian drummer Torstein Lofthus, who is also a
member of the avant garde group Shining and the psychedelic prog-rock-jazz trio
Elephant 9.
Together this like-minded triumvirate travels from slamming,
intricately executed vehicles like "Boot," "Cot" and
"Brick" to more atmospheric soundscapes like "Slip" and
"Caboose" to the explosive free jazz jam on "Stone." Says
the leader of the group's blend of discipline and highly interactive playing on
display throughout Tooth: "It´s just a case of having three like-minded
musicians in the studio playing loose, off-the-cuff stuff over some
semi-composed material."
As he did on Mumpbeak, Powell again explores the sounds of
his heavily-effected, guitar-sounding clavinet throughout Tooth. "I play a
stock Hohner E7 clavinet into a series of guitar effects pedals going into a
Fender valve amp," explains the keyboardist, whose debut as a leader was
1994's A Big Sky.
"Over the years I have become less interested in stock
electric piano or Hammond organ or acoustic piano sounds. So one day when I was
playing my clav at home I thought I would max the guitar aspect of the instrument
and see where it would take me."
Those ambitious experiments led to Mumpbeak and now Tooth,
which prominently features Powell's souped-up clavinet while also utilizing a
few of his other trusty keyboards in the mix. "The use of Hammond organ
and Moog synth are just to add a little variation in color," he explains.
Powell's signature clavinet sound is in full effect on the
odd-metered opener "Boot," which introduces the powerhouse drumming
of Lofthus, whose muscular, whirlwind approach to the kit sets the pace on this
intricate, stop-time vehicle. "Brick" brings an element of swing into
the Zappaesque proceedings while the thunderous "Saw," fueled by
Lofthus' power-precision playing, has Powell dialing up some nasty distortion,
wah-wah and whammy bar articulations on his clav.
The keyboardist takes a more gentle approach with a clean
clavinet sound on the more serene "Slip," which serves as a kind of
palette cleanser after the tumultuous grunge jam of "Saw." "Cot,"
with its interlocking arpeggios and muscular drumming underneath, is very
Crimsonesque in its finely-executed latticework patterns. "Caboose"
opens with a full four minutes of ambient washes and soundscapes executed by
Powell and Feliciati, both generating mesmerizing loops, before segueing to a
swinging section paced by Felicity's insistent walking baselines and Lofthus'
loose swing factor on the kit. This nine-minute suite features Lofthus' most
explosive solo of the session.
Tooth concludes with the wah-wah fueled jam
"Stone," a provocative piece clearly influenced by Miles Davis'
landmark Bitches Brew that builds from a delicate koto-like intro to a funk
section to a wild free jazz blowout underscored by Lofthus' rampaging approach
to the kit.
Says Powell of his ongoing hookup with Italian bassist
Feliciati, "I first met Lorenzo at a Bass Day event in Manchester in 2007.
We immediately had a connection both as people and as musicians, being the same
age and sharing a common musical heritage and shared references such as Frank
Zappa, Miles Davis, and Allan Holdsworth. We kept in touch and started to play
together whenever possible. This led to the formation of the Naked Truth
quartet with Cuong Vu and Pat Mastelotto. When I realized that I was going to
have a European-based working Mumpbeak trio, it was obvious to ask Lorenzo to
join."
Powell discovered drummer Lofthus while performing a series
of educational concerts in Norwegian schools. "Torstein´s name came up and
I jumped at the chance to work with him, having see him with Elephant 9 and
Shining. He has great technical skills together with a hard hitting style that defines the
music."
"I am aware that I am making a kind of niche
music," says Powell of his adventurous approach with Mumpbeak. "It´s
handmade artisan crafted music for the educated listener, available on vinyl!
You can´t get more niche than that! But it suits me down to the ground because
of my predilections. I really like musical material with a relatively high
complexity and difficulty level. I think that when you present this kind of
music to an audience it can almost be like a magical experience, as long as the
complexity is coupled with some aspects of simplicity to balance it. And we
have played a lot of concerts together so the difficulty level of some of the
material gets a lot easier with repetition."
Watch for this music to develop to another level when
Mumpbeak tours Europe this summer. Until then, dig their volatile
prog-rock-jazz jams on Tooth, their potent sophomore outing on
RareNoiseRecords.
TRACKS
1. Boot
2. Brick
3. Saw
4. Slip
5. Cot
6. Caboose
7. Stone
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