Don't let the album cover fool you: Danny Sher's Loose Nukes is nowhere near as childlike and simple as shown-- nor is it a mediocre home-recorded folk album. Sher has been expressing his ideas via the drum kit since the age of 9, and has been performing in various groups and ensembles since the age of 14-- yet has just released his debut this past October. Accompanied by vibraphone, guitar, bass, and piano, one thought that can be determined by Loose Nukes's cover is its expansive color palette.
Like Bitches Brew and Jazz In Silhouette before it, Loose Nukes is saturated with talent; even the most minor of parsing will reveal the mind-boggling skill of each member. The mastery within Loose Nukes wouldn't have been divulged if it weren't for Sher's complex, poly-rhythmic compositions. Not one melody or chord progression is revisited; each piece cycles through various phases without garishly flaunting the quintet's technicality.
Each track on Loose Nukes is a constant rotation, highlighting every instrument and utilizing the members' capabilities. The piano instantly shifts from simple, spacious chords to swiftly fluttering arpeggios; spastic guitar noodling is filtered through a warm, murky and reverberated timbre; the vibraphone has a shimmering tone; and the drums and bass conjugate as the driving force-- altering tempo and modifying time signatures. Loose Nukes follows this highly synchronized and multifaceted route throughout, with the exception of an improvisational piece that not only offers a refreshing detour in mood, but also refrains from wandering.
Loose Nukes, though unwilling to conform to a particular rhythm, segues from idea to idea smoothly. Sher's compositions avoid jitters and dissonant transitions, and instead attain a hyper-melodic sensibility shared by contemporaries like The Claudia Quintet. Like Royal Toast, the creativity and personality seep from the musicians at even the pinnacle of synchronization.
[Danny Sher Website]
[Buy Loose Nukes from CD Baby]
No comments:
Post a Comment