OM Trio - Global Positioning Record
(Black Beauty)
Fresh from their victory in the 2004 Relix Magazine Jamoff, New Jersey’s OM Trio (bassist Pete Novembre, drummer Ilya Stemkovsky, and keyboardist Brian Felix, who’s also in Mushroom) have self-released four albums in the last five years, with combined sales topping 10,000 (mostly at gigs during the five months of every year they spend on the road). This grueling schedule has won them numerous fans and caught the ears of marvelous San Francisco imprint, Black Beauty, who has entertained us with recent releases from eclectic jazz cats, Ralph Carney and Eddie Gale, as well as the wonderful new Mushroom album (Glazed Popems).
“Shant” kicks off their fifth release with a bubbling, belching call to order, and it isn’t long before your happy feet’ll hit the floor dancing to Novembre’s throbbing bass, Stemkovsky’s pounding rhythms and Felix’s perculating keyboard runs on “L” (which also appears on the Relix JAM OFF! compilation disk). An early highlight, the track soon settles into a smooth, rolling funk groove under Felix’s spaceage bachelor pad keyboard sprinkles. His infectious organ runs, coupled with funky throbmeister, Novembre’s rolling bass and hyperkinetic fills from Stemkovsky keep the ball rolling and the toes a-tapping on “Discrepancy.” Felix’s punctuated riffing on “Bulbous” brought back pleasant memories of Argent and had me scouring my record collection for “Hold Your Head Up,” and the scorching six-string fireworks on “Drop Q” and “Frankenstein”-ish Edgar Winter inflections on “Tor S” from guest axe wielder, Jason Concepcion (of Umphrey’s McGee) amply demonstrate that r-o-c-k is not a dirty, four-letter word to these guys!
Felix’s beeping, boinking sci-fi SETI signals add a bit of fun to the rollicking, funky grooves of “Demarcation,” and Stemkovsky’s asymmetric, industrial percussives on “Hence” sound like he’s running a chop shop or building a Harley out in the garage. An infectious, funky, fun-filled, groove-laden party in a jewel case, you’ll definitely want to add this to your collection.
|
