Be it through careful panning, beautiful reverbs, or the way the pieces ebb and flow, this is an album that lends itself very well to being described as a trip.
Each layer clear and every performance nuanced
On Pyramid, Jaga Jazzist continue the conscious minimalization of their original Zappaian fusion into a quasi-spiritual jazz record that feels grounded in modern music. Elegant and sleek, the record totals four tracks for almost forty minutes, a classic format which lends itself to longer jams where the band takes the time to present, stretch and repeat themes over various beats. The guitar melody of “Tomita” is prefigured by horns in the minutes leading up to it, while the assertion of the theme is carried by faster, if still understated drumming.
The production on this latest record, put out by Brainfeeder in 2020, is immaculate. An evident attention to dynamics is given in the writing, the performances and the mixing, and the way organic instruments mix with sharper synth riffs, like on the rocking closer “Apex,” where we even get to hear slight 303-ish filter sweeps, is impeccable. The great strength of Pyramid, as evidenced by the title of the album or of the track The Shrine, is the creation of a sense of space. Be it through careful panning, beautiful reverbs, or the way the pieces ebb and flow, this is an album that lends itself very well to being described as a trip. No over-indulgent instrumentalist ego here (which is very fine and enjoyable in a lot of fusion contexts), but an almost Schulze-esque voyage carried by a tight band shouldering this burden with ease. Pyramid as a whole offers the feeling of a live group, each layer clear and every performance nuanced.
Pyramid is available on Brainfeeder. [Bandcamp]
