Most electronic shows are about as exciting to watch as data entry.
Sure, there’s sometimes engaging video work, but by and large, going
out to a “show” means either watching someone casually mix records or
lazily twiddle knobs. Admittedly, such performances are usually meant
as a call to action (dance!), so it’s refreshing to have acts like
Cobblestone Jazz bridging the gap between live performance and dance
party.
The trio—consisting of Tyger Dhula, Mathew Jonson, and Danuel
Tate—silence doubters of “live” electronic music; true to the
Jazz in their name, the group’s performances are improvised jam
sessions that trade traditional instrumentation for laptops, drum
machines, and synths. Rejecting the set-on-rails approach adopted by
many electronic producers, Cobblestone Jazz play off one another,
working their way in and out of proper tracks, using their sets to
construct sonic narratives. The group’s live appeal has seen
them play both the usual electronic outlets (Mutek, Fabric) as well as
those more unexpected (Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival).
With their performance-centric mentality, their releases are a
distillation of the live experience, more akin to recorded jams than
definitive versions. This looseness has served the group well,
garnering them critical acclaim since their early releases on Wagon
Repair and Itiswhatitis.
Unfortunately, many listeners will base their opinion of Cobblestone
Jazz on the first, more traditional disc on their first CD release,
23 Seconds, on Studio !K7. While that disc features some moments
that deftly combine the jazz aesthetic with minimal techno’s
palette (“Hired Touch,” “Lime in Da Coconut”), there’s too much
meandering to create techno converts. More convincing is the album’s
second disc, which starts with a live recording of a 2007 Madrid
performance. The live performance exhibits more direction than the
separated tracks, taking many of the same elements from the first disc
and presenting them in a much more dynamic, engaging fashion, with an
urgency that apparently didn’t translate to the studio.
The group is forthcoming about their performance focus, and the
disparity between the two discs of their album proves that they’re a
group that must be seen live to be fully appreciated. Consider it
the double-edged sword of all that jazz influence: Improvisation offers
unlimited flexibility, but with no audience to play off of, it falls a
little flat. Context is everything.
Cobblestone Jazz play Sat Feb 23 at Nectar, 9 pm–2 am, $12
adv, 21+. With Dave Pezzner and Nordic Soul.
•••
A few other notes for your calendar:
Dirtybird‘s Christian Martin and Worthy play Chop Suey on
Friday, February 22. The hype over the Dirtybird label has subsided a
bit, but Christian Martin (brother of label founder Justin) has got its
quirky sound on lock.
Harsh is back with a one-off at the Rendezvous on Tuesday,
February 26. As always, their artists have the best names around, with
Herpes Hideaway, Red Squirrel, and In the Age of Terminal Static
joining D.C.’s Bajskorv for a night of “electronic death.” 