The joys of a small band with plenty of space to play shine through on this album; no one is getting in anybody else’s way and it’s almost like you can see how it all works in real time. It does feel like a drummer led album with plenty of snap and twists and turns and changes in time. This forward drive is reminiscent of the best of 1970s’ jazz-rock like Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. Of course, with a small, well-recorded group like this none of the musicians have anywhere to hide; thankfully, there are no weaknesses on display.
They hit the ground
running with the appropriately titled Drive,
all rattling drums and spiralling guitar, muscular bass and piano runs. Katniss is a little statelier and
pastoral, lovely and fluid before a display of the most frantic drumming on Just Sayin’ which breaks for a darting,
building piano solo halfway through which, in turn, leads the band back up into
some of the previous fury. Nitza Bar’s angular Scofield-ian guitar solo gets a
special mention here before he cedes the floor to the drummer who launches into
a solo, supported by prods and pushes from the others.
Memories,
a Mother’s Light is a late night lullaby built over a
gently rolling bass line, Nehemya’s busy drums low in the mix. We’re back up to
speed for Armors and Doubts, which is
another guitar showcase. Tight, knotty runs dominate over a heavyweight bass
line with the drums excitedly pushing everything on. Prog-jazz at its finest! Ten Years From Now gives us a glimpse of
what Steely Dan might sound like if they had ever spent time, after hours, in a
night club. A sinuous Latin rhythm frames Tomer Bar’s rich piano and he takes
the opportunity to shine. From Latin, we shift to some jazz-funk for Endless Universe with the electric
Fender Rhodes piano just adding to the 70s feel. It’s mainly the sharp rattling
crack of the propulsive drumming that saves it from too much mellowness. We
close with One For Myself, a drum
solo which maintains interest across its three minutes by the amount of
imagination on show; cymbals and drums delicately, but energetically interact
as if they were two characters in conversation, enthusiastically agreeing with each
other.
The sleeve notes explain
that this is a collection of songs that represent Nehemya’s earliest
compositions, as if he is closing a door on a chapter in his career. As a
drummer he is rarely less than very busy, seeming to fill every gap in the
music, pushing and harassing the others. If he were a footballer he’d be
described as covering every blade of grass. We now wait to see what he comes up
with next. Hopefully, he will build on the strengths that he and his confreres
have displayed here. Dave Sayer
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