Am I listening to Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock or the Mahavishnu Orchestra from the late 1970s – early ‘80s? Nope, it is Extreme Measures from the west coast electronic jazz band Simplexity out of Vibration Institute Music. This group has interchangeable titles with the album they have produced, and my ears are trustingly clear in that there are TWO Chick Corea connections: John Beasley on keyboards, and Gary Novak on drums. The other members are Judd Miller on clarinet and EVI (electronic valve instrument), Steve Tavaglione on sax, the late Dave Carpenter on bass (who suffered a heart attack after they began to put this recording together during those couple days jam sessions), and the foundation, producer and bassist who took-up for Dave after he passed, John von Seggern. While Novak is no Billy Cobham, as a former drummer, I can say that he is very “ok” and holds it down within that rock-jazz-fusion mold.
I recently spoke to Susan von Seggern, John’s wife and contact person for the band, and asked her how their recently released (February 2, 2010) album was being received and she said that it was “good” while admitting modestly that it wasn’t “[wildly] great, but [they] are happy with the response so far.”
“Astral Travel” establishes the album’s cerebral direction on cut one. “The Organization of Chaos” (great oxymoronic title) give a deep and fully round bottom via the bass line. I think I’m hearing Miles Davis’ vibe on cut five, “Planet Mongo”, while on the next track, “Stendec Transmissions” there is a noticeable trending toward an intermittent dance club beat. “Twilight” follows and doesn’t really do it for me unless there is a meteor shower going at dusk – but it could be that they just chose the wrong name for the song.
Having grown-up in New York City Jazz radio back in the Barney Lane, WRVR FM days, I can truly say that Simplexity is a slight throw-back to the jazz-fusion of my comeuppance era. This is more like I imagine the future of Jazz music to be because there are only so many futurisms one can do with this great genre, and remain relatively true to the core of mainstream.
Extreme Measures music is listenable and totally alluring as we head into the outdoor listening months here in the U.S.; totally “sit out on the porch and read-by music”. Southern California should be proud of these cats representing jazz music on their behalf. This is more like I imagine the future of Jazz music to be because there are only so many futurisms one can do with this great genre, and remain relatively true to the core of mainstream. I am keen to hear where this is programmed on satellite or public radio stations that feature the “smooth” or traditional jazz formats. Like Susan said, it is “good” stuff, and following her lead, my rating is four stars as aficionados will want to add this to their humidor libraries.
