Bop'n Bossa Nova, contemplative cool, & frenetic big band — E.G. Phillips' "Alien from an Alternate Earth"

After a foray into country for his EP, Nashville Recordings, Vol.1, San Francisco songwriter E.G Phillips returns to the jazz idiom with his new album Alien from an Alternate Earth.  

As with his previous outing At Home at Sea and “The Albatross Song,” this collection’s title is derived from the refrain of one of its tracks — “The Octopus Song,” which was inspired by The Soul of an Octopus by naturalist Sy Montgomery and written to promote a show at Oakland’s Octopus Literary Salon.  While the pretext of the song might be cephalopod perceptions and origins, its underlying purpose is much more personal — a meditation on the singer’s current situation and place in the world — a re-emerging theme throughout these songs.

We open with the breezy Bossa Nova “Till We Have Faces Again” (which alludes to the vagaries of the pandemic as well as C.S. Lewis’s retelling of Cupid and Psyche) and then explore a variety of textures and emotions — from the venomous, knife twisting swagger of “That May Not Be Good Enough” (which is nasty as Dylan ever was) to the ethereal, music box like “Ode to the Wildhorse Cafe.”  The album is capped off with the frenetic encouragement of the big band number called “Brave Heart, Luna!”

This project was the result of a chance encounter with producer Chris McGrew and keyboardist/vocal arranger Kevin Seal (both of punky prog rock Griddle and Seal Party) at a recording session at the famed Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco (where Santana and Herbie Hancock laid down classic tracks).  This led to McGrew (who also plays drums on the album) assembling an all star cast of local luminaries to provide that old school, 1950s feel Phillips was looking to imbue into these recordings.  Desmond Shea (Division Hi-Fi, Faith No More) was on hand to act as recording engineer (as well as provide his unique insights).  Mastering was done by Gary Hobish, a veteran of Berkeley’s Fantasy Studios and San Francisco’s CD Studios.

Alien from an Alternate Earth is a tight volume of E.G. Phillips songs where his characteristically cinematic and whimsical lyrics are backed by an imaginative ensemble of the Bay Area’s best jazz players who create a sound that is both classic and striking.