Nostalgia 77 Octet: Borderlands
TruThoughts113 Released: Sept. 22, 2006
Winner of the Jazz Album Of The Year Worldwide Awards presented by Gilles Peterson’s Radio One show, Nostalgia 77’s new album Borderlands introduces the next step in Ben Lamdin’s jazz/hip-hop/funk project. Borderlands is an apt title since not only does the rising popularity of this group of musicians increasingly border the underground and mainstream music scenes (their cover of White Stripes “Seven Nation Army”, featuring Alice Russell on vocals, was a huge crossover hit) , but the music itself on Borderlands also straddles the influence of jazz’s past greats and the infused stylings of the current jazz funk continuum, even more so than past releases.
First off, this record radiates a certain warmth that previous releases lacked and this may be due to the fact that the record was recorded using all vintage equipment in the Welsh countryside (funny that there is no vinyl release since this seems a perfect scenario for a waxed pressing). Holed up for a week in a cottage, this was the bands first excursion into their own compositions. What is produced is what I hope will be a wonderful direction for not only the band but also other jazz and future jazz-hybrid recordings. The synergy between the musicians is tighter and playing more fluid than previous recordings. In turn, this gives the music a looser and explorative nature, which becomes more and more rewarding with each subsequent listen. This is very evident on such tracks as “The Cat” where interweaving horns open the track eventually letting other instruments join the conversation one by one.
The song “Question” plays like a early 70’s fusion inspired, soul infused work recorded by a veteran jazz great complete with the bubbling Hancock-ish electric piano playing. The musicians love for UK jazz master Graham Collier is evident throughout the disc, especially in such tune as “Desert Fairy Princess” and “Lotus Tree”. I can’t think of nobody better than Nostalgia to further the possibilities of funk infused modal jazz. Like Collier, Nostalgia is able to balance alluring rhythms with well-crafted song structures while still leaving room for individual voices and layered subtlety. While Nostalgia remains a coherent whole, a flowing congealed movement of sound, there are new individual voices to be heard in these recordings.
Nostalgia 77 has always been a beat-driven entity, relying on a constant drum line to propel the melody. Yet, on this recording drummer Graham Fox expands his role into a dynamic voice adding texture both heavy and subtle, but always funky. Bass player Riaan Vosloo also steps out of previous molds and extends his musical vocabulary. Overall, there is more circular movement among the musicians interplay, which is quite evident in the horn playing that extends the song structure with more confidence this time around. This is a new direction showcased on their last release, the live Seven’s and Eight’s, and refined on Borderlands.
Such development has opened the possibilities far and wide for this group and I am very excited to see what the future holds for them. I think Borderlands is a giant step for them that takes the validity of their art beyond their word-of-mouth popularity and supplants it in the quality of their recordings. I am awarded each time I listen to this album and every time I put this on for parties people ask me who it is. Do yourself a favor and buy this album!
Listen to the album here.
If you like it check out these similar artist: Variable Unit (VU), Cinematic Orchestra, Graham Collier
