Pianist and composer
Kait Dunton has long kept her gaze fixed well beyond the obvious, but as the
cover of trioKAIT 2 reveals she and her close-knit bandmates are now set on an
even more cosmic vision. Where the trio's self-titled debut reimagined
electronica-influenced jazz for an acoustic piano trio, trioKAIT 2 adds an
array of vintage keyboards and effects to Dunton's already eclectic sound
palette.
Due out May
11 on Real & Imagined Music, trioKAIT 2 further evolves the collective
voice that Dunton and her triomates -- electric bassist Cooper Appelt and
drummer Jake Reed -- have forged together through tireless gigging and a shared
open-mindedness during the past few years. A former member of Snarky Puppy
during the band's formative years in Texas, Dunton carries forward the same
"family" approach into her own trio. Fittingly for three musicians
based in the show biz capital of Los Angeles, where opportunities take a
dizzying variety of forms, trioKAIT folds influences from pop, rock, film scoring
and other styles into their unique twist on the piano trio.
The addition
of classic keyboards like the Fender Rhodes and the Wurlitzer electric piano
only makes the possibilities that much more endless. "There's such a
wealth of sonic possibility in using synths and effects," Dunton says.
"As a composer I've always strived to see how modern I could get the
acoustic piano to sound. But at the end of the day it's still just an acoustic
piano -- there are inevitably limitations. As soon as I started getting into
the world of pedals, I realized how inspiring a sound can be."
Shockingly
given the wide range of sounds she coaxes from her expanded toybox and the
finesse with which she uses them, Dunton is still new to the world of keyboards
and synthesizers. Six months prior to recording she was still an acoustic piano
purist; the album displays a full spectrum of environments and sonic approaches
that finds her venturing down a stunning variety of new creative paths.
Of course, a
lifetime of study and experience went into Dunton's experiments, lending her
the instincts to make something innately musical out of each situation, even --
sometimes especially -- when things didn't exactly work as expected. "It
was so new I didn't have time to worry about whether I was doing it right or
not," she says with a laugh.
In keeping
with the album's celestial theme, the first track is "Re-Entry," and
the feeling is one of burning across a threshold and being thrust into a sudden
moment of weightlessness. But with Dunton on the acoustic piano, it's also an
easing back into the sound-world of trioKAIT, exemplifying the group's knack
for infectious melody, bracing groove and intensely locked-in but playful
communication.
Things take
a turn with the wah wah-tinged Rhodes of "OCD," a tense, urgent tune
that wouldn't feel out of place scoring a car chase or on one of Herbie Hancock's
soulful '70s offerings. "Using the wah pedal, I finally understood why
Herbie's Rhodes sounds different," Dunton says. "You can't just turn
on a Rhodes and have it sound like Herbie's. Herbie or Chick would use a wah
pedal, and just turning it on adds this frequency in the upper range that makes
it pop. On acoustic piano it's all about touch and tone but you're not really
adjusting the sound like this."
Touch and
tone are at the forefront on "Nude," which returns to the acoustic
setting for a starkly emotional ballad that feels like a baring of the soul.
"The Hunch" with its air of mystery and suspicion, gets at the
intuitive feeling that something's not quite right, even if you can't put your
finger on the specifics. It's followed by a pair of tunes that take the
narrative idea into meta territory: "Thematic" is a pulsing synth
piece where atmospheric production and, naturally, the dramatic theme take
precedence over soloing, while the non-eponymous "Title Track"
shimmers in its airy open-endedness, giving Appelt plenty of space in which to
roam.
Dunton's
Wurlitzer gives a breezy Yacht Rock feel to "J&J's," with Reed
gently propelling the beat with a finger-snapping cool. The skewed funk of
"Frontier" has a classic '80s R&B tune's ability to compel the
listener out of their chair, and Dunton carries that momentum into her
ferocious solo.
The only
non-original composition on the album is the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley
tune "Pure Imagination" -- a perfect choice for a set fueled by
inventive dreaming. In trioKAIT's hands the song becomes untethered from the
bounds of gravity, free-floating and wispy as a scattering cloud. "Inner
Space" turns the focus inward for a deliberately-paced anthem of
self-reflection.
The album
nears its close by getting looser and more exploratory. "Outlude"
plays with layers of sound, while "Alkibo" cruises on a celebratory
groove. "Thanks And Goodnight" is a final, slightly tongue-in-cheek
send-off, dancing the trio offstage until the next time the curtain rises.
Kait Dunton
is a Los Angeles based composer & pianist with an unconventional approach
to composition and to the piano trio, best expressed by her genre-pushing band
trioKAIT. Together with bassist Cooper Appelt (Kan Wakan, Station Breaks, Robert
Davi) and drummer Jake Reed (Bill Holman, Bruce Forman, Mako), trioKAIT brings
a modern, tight and groovy sound to the piano trio format, shuffling
wide-ranging influences and Kait's innovative compositions into a refreshingly
modern take on instrumental music that is as uncategorizable as it is
infectious. Fused together via Kait's music, the trio melds into a
laser-focused single entity that is captivating, playful and exciting. The
trio's self-titled debut, trioKAIT, made the Huffington Post's list of
"The Best Jazz for 2015" and was featured in Downbeat Magazine, while
their follow-up collection of idiosyncratic covers, trioKAIT Casual, reached #5
on the Jazz Week radio charts. On her own albums Kait has worked with such jazz
masters as Peter Erskine, Bob Mintzer, John Daversa and Darek Oles. Prior to
this, she was a member of Snarky Puppy during their formative years in Texas,
appearing on their sophomore record, The World is Getting Smaller.
Kait Dunton
· trioKAIT 2
Real &
Imagined Music · Release Date: May 11, 2018
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