Jazz Kamikaze - Travelling At the Speed of Sound (2007)
To tell you the truth, when I first saw this album cover, I thought I was having a stroke. I let out an audible groan when I laid my eyes on the South Park anime-parody looking avatars of what I presumed was the band in question. That combined with the stark "JAZZ KAMIKAZE" above their heads immediately made me fear the worst: some sort of horrific Western adaptation of the J-rock menace or something to that degree that was lost to the annals of time like the Ark of the Covenant. Would my face melt off upon opening this jewel case? It was all up in the air.
Turns out though these dudes are far more jazz than they are kamikaze. They aren't even American, either! Turns out Jazz Kamikaze (or I guess JazzKamikaze according to Wikipedia) are a contemporary jazz group starring a conglomerate of young Scandinavian musicians. They've been doing work in the Danish and Norweigan jazz circuits, playing at venues like Kongsberg Jazzfestival and Moldejazz and even internationally in places like Rochester, my home city! They've released four albums over a span of seven years, this one being their sophomore, and have remained active enough to have a
snazzy lookin' website that advertises something that came soon (what I presume to be) a long time ago.
Unlike many of the records I've received in the mystery bags, these guys are actually pretty good. They're skilled musicians who have a great ear for vibrant jazz, and stylistically they're all over the place. Bebop, jazz-funk, jazz-rock, fusion, and even a smattering of hip-hop all permeate this record. It's fun as **** and at the same time doesn't take itself too seriously. The bag I got this one in is from awhile ago and I've had enough time to listen to the whole thing, and I've found myself coming back to the frantic fusion tune
Speedball quite a few times. The smooth closing epic
Until the Sun Comes is pretty good as well.
SALVAGEABILITY: There's not too much bad I can say about this record. It's fun, dynamic and well executed. If I had one gripe with it I suppose it would be that I noticed prolonged listening resulted in a bit of sensory overload, but even that's not that big of a deal. It's not like anyone's forcing me to listen to it in one sitting Clockwork Orange style. Oh yeah, and they need a new cover artist. This aesthetic ain't it, chief.
SALVAGEABLE.