Roller Trio

Jan 19 2019

Best of 2018 #8: Roller Trio – “New Devices”

 

There are a very great many things to adore about the 2018 release from Roller Trio, but the most significant development is best viewed from the context of the band’s timeline.  As I stated about this exciting electro-acoustic project when I first wrote about it for The Bandcamp Daily, “The mad experiments of the Roller Trio’s previous two recordings manifested a new kind of Frankenstein’s monster.”  Roller Trio’s previous recordings were warmly received by this site, and each were enjoyable in their own way, but looking back on them now as stages that led up to the magnificent New Devices, there’s a certain post-excitement about the earlier works because of the hints and signs of what was yet to come.  When I included this album in my Best Jazz Albums of 2018 column for The Bandcamp Daily, I believe I summed things up best when I concluded, “This is the sound of a band coming into their own.”  It’s one of the most rewarding benefits of following the creative trajectory of an artist, to experience that growth in their work and the achievement of new plateaus as we go about living our own lives, and manifesting our own individual growth and achievements.  This is how music becomes intertwined with our timelines, and becomes personal to us in the most ineffable ways.  It is how art becomes timeless.

Released on Edition Records.

Music from Leeds, UK.

I wrote about this album for Bird is the Worm.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

By • Recap: Best of 2018 • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Nov 5 2018

This is how a post about a Roller Trio video becomes a recommendation for J Frisco

 

So, earlier today I put together one of my Sunday video posts.  Featured among the videos was something new from the Roller Trio.  It was a live performance video from earlier this year in Leeds, and featured a tune from their new album New Devices (I adore that album).  As I was tracking down an appropriate video to feature, my search results brought back something rather odd and extremely fun.  It’s this… an interpretative dance to an older Roller Trio tune… in a kitchen.

Obviously I was going to feature that thing.

I did a quick google search on the track to confirm I was attributing that song to the correct album.  That’s when I noticed there was another video out there featuring the same girls dancing to Roller Trio.  This time, on stage.  I thought, hey, fun, the band invited the girls to reenact their little dance video at one of their shows.

Well, that led to another google search, because if I feature someone in a post, I’m giving them a shout-out and, hopefully, provide some links to projects of their own.  As it turned out, they do have a project of their own.  The J Frisco in the video title is the name of their trio.

Say hello to J Frisco, a trio of keyboardist Jemma Freese, saxophonist Lara Jones and guitarist Megan Roe.  From what I’ve heard so far, the Leeds-based musicians take an experimental approach to jazz, where ambient minimalism is the unlikely source of chaos and dissonance. Here’s a live performance of the song “Gender,” which is one of the tracks on their new album, Naked, out later this month.

Here’s a link to their Bandcamp page.  The new album isn’t up, and I haven’t yet confirmed even that they’re retailing it there.  However, there are two tracks loaded up, and they do a pretty decent job of showing their range when working in an ambient medium.

Even better is this collaboration with Archipelago at the Lancaster Jazz Festival.  I’m pretty well addicted to this piece.

J Frisco has plenty of other music loaded up to their Soundcloud page.  I recommend checking that out. Their YouTube page, too.

As I learn more about their upcoming album, I’ll pass along what I discover.

It’s posts like this one that keep me doing what I do.

By • Jazz Recommendations - 2018, These are videos that I like • 1 • Tags: ,

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