D'Arkestra

Year End Non-Metal Roundup, Day Five: D’arkestra – Ghost Town

Filed Under: Albums You Should Hear, Audio, Features, Unmetal By DeusExMachina
Dec.14, 2012
Jazz fusion is a difficult to understand genre. On one hand, you have the rather straight forward jazz fusion, which is little more than jazz with a rock beat and more rock structure; and then you have the style bordering on free jazz, that has lots of creative flair while sticking to some form of structure, albeit loose, sort of like BADBADNOTGOOD, which was featured earlier this week. While d’arkestra, a progressive jazz fusion band out of Louisville, KY, are not as crazy as the aforementioned BBNG, this 8-piece definitely have some weird qualities, such as a few post-rock qualities, two songs with female vocals, and a eclectic mix of classic jazz sounds and instrumentation, and modern guitar techniques, such as flanger, wah, and the like. In fact, this conglomerate of sound nearly approaches avant-garde levels of weirdness. However, the clash of the sounds and styles work very well on their debut record, Ghost Town.

Take the first song, “Jazzist“, which sounds this mix of sounds right out of the gates. It opens with guitar and drums in 7 in a very fusion style, and retains this feel through the opening part of the song, building upon it with the brass section, which gives it some much needed oomph. Due to the syncopation and the frantic drum playing, the song grooves for days. Guitarist Brandon Coleman shows his unique style, not just on this particular song, but on the album, as he is always performing super interesting leads and unique chord voicings that shouldn’t make a lot of sense in theory, but somehow manage to create nearly unheard of blends of sound.

“Halogen” shows that the group really can do anything, as it opens with something that could be heard from the 1940's or 50's, yet transform into a very slow ballad that is quite beautiful. One thing this song highlights is the bands ability to arrange their music similarly to an orchestra. The brass parts are always moving in intelligent ways, sharing the melody between one another while keeping the song together in a cohesive manner. The group is very progressive, approaching each song differently, yet making each sound like their own.

Even though the whole album is full of sweet jams, hard groover “Squares and Squares” steals the show. The song does not have a single bar of four, and it’s so unbelievably full of energy, due to the brass’ excited delivery and the drummer’s nuanced, yet intense playing. It also can’t be overstated how solid the bass player is, and how he’s always right in the pocket.

Overall, this is probably my jazz album of the year. I would recommend it to almost anyone who had an interest in the style, and I would also recommend it to fans of progressive or avant-garde music. From the tracks aforementioned, to the truly haunting “Ghost Town”, which has an The Devil’s Blood meets Worm Ouroboros sound, and to the unique weirdness of the album, it truly is one of my favorite albums of the year, and I encourage you to at least give it a listen with the provided bandcamp stream. Enjoy

- GR
- Heavy Blog is Heavy

Year End Non-Metal Roundup, Day Five: D’arkestra – Ghost Town

Filed Under: Albums You Should Hear, Audio, Features, Unmetal By DeusExMachina
Dec.14, 2012
Jazz fusion is a difficult to understand genre. On one hand, you have the rather straight forward jazz fusion, which is little more than jazz with a rock beat and more rock structure; and then you have the style bordering on free jazz, that has lots of creative flair while sticking to some form of structure, albeit loose, sort of like BADBADNOTGOOD, which was featured earlier this week. While d’arkestra, a progressive jazz fusion band out of Louisville, KY, are not as crazy as the aforementioned BBNG, this 8-piece definitely have some weird qualities, such as a few post-rock qualities, two songs with female vocals, and a eclectic mix of classic jazz sounds and instrumentation, and modern guitar techniques, such as flanger, wah, and the like. In fact, this conglomerate of sound nearly approaches avant-garde levels of weirdness. However, the clash of the sounds and styles work very well on their debut record, Ghost Town.

Take the first song, “Jazzist“, which sounds this mix of sounds right out of the gates. It opens with guitar and drums in 7 in a very fusion style, and retains this feel through the opening part of the song, building upon it with the brass section, which gives it some much needed oomph. Due to the syncopation and the frantic drum playing, the song grooves for days. Guitarist Brandon Coleman shows his unique style, not just on this particular song, but on the album, as he is always performing super interesting leads and unique chord voicings that shouldn’t make a lot of sense in theory, but somehow manage to create nearly unheard of blends of sound.

“Halogen” shows that the group really can do anything, as it opens with something that could be heard from the 1940's or 50's, yet transform into a very slow ballad that is quite beautiful. One thing this song highlights is the bands ability to arrange their music similarly to an orchestra. The brass parts are always moving in intelligent ways, sharing the melody between one another while keeping the song together in a cohesive manner. The group is very progressive, approaching each song differently, yet making each sound like their own.

Even though the whole album is full of sweet jams, hard groover “Squares and Squares” steals the show. The song does not have a single bar of four, and it’s so unbelievably full of energy, due to the brass’ excited delivery and the drummer’s nuanced, yet intense playing. It also can’t be overstated how solid the bass player is, and how he’s always right in the pocket.

Overall, this is probably my jazz album of the year. I would recommend it to almost anyone who had an interest in the style, and I would also recommend it to fans of progressive or avant-garde music. From the tracks aforementioned, to the truly haunting “Ghost Town”, which has an The Devil’s Blood meets Worm Ouroboros sound, and to the unique weirdness of the album, it truly is one of my favorite albums of the year, and I encourage you to at least give it a listen with the provided bandcamp stream. Enjoy

- GR
- Heavy Blog is Heavy

D’Arkestra is an innovative ensemble led by saxophonist Drew Miller, featuring some of the finest younger generation Louisville jazz musicians, including keyboardist Wade Honey and guitarist Brandon Coleman, among others. Ghost Town contains seven songs, two with vocals, covering a wide stylistic palette. The opener, “Jazzist,” features harpsichord and Afro-beat horns and drumming. The melodic “Halogen” follows, with a progressive big band sound. The title track features eerie singing by Dane Waters, over spacey keyboards and spidery guitar, ultimately building to a crescendo. Reggae influences come to the fore on “Ghetto Boo … I Miss You.” Latin-influenced funk rules on the aptly titled “Boogaloo.” The closing “Gasoline Rainbow” features Waters interpreting Miller’s unusual lyrics in an Afro-funk setting. The band’s name shows the influence of Sun Ra, but it’s the eclectic approach of the Saturnian bandleader, rather than his interstellar themes, which marks this impressive debut. — Martin Z. Kasdan Jr.

Posted by pberkowitz on February 25, 2013 at 2:38 pm.
Tags: Music and tagged D’arkestra, Dane Waters, Ghost Town, Louisville, lucky pineapple,Sun Ra
JANUARY 28, 2013
- LEO WEEKLY

Being late on the draw has never been our problem here at Never Nervous, where better-late-than-never is the modus operandi. Featuring ex-members of Lucky Pineapple and Another 7 Astronauts, D’Arkestra live up to the expectations set by their previous affairs. Lithe and elegant, their most recent album Ghost Town is equal parts jazzy, prone to prog-rock trappings, and strangely haunting. It seems appropriate then that Ghost Town was released on Halloween of 2012.
D’Arkestra manage to impress with their skillful craftsmanship throughout the record. Where Lucky Pineapple seemed apt to explore the depths of the genres that they plumbed, D’Arkestra seem equally apt to fuse stylistic tropes to create a greater whole. Track to track D’Arkestra vary greatly, adeptly pivoting between styles, weaving in intermittently a rather lovely female vocal, but leaving ample room to focus on instrumentation. I went into this expecting an emphasis on the horn section of the band, but was surprised to find equal attention paid to all instruments, which includes a rather John McClaughlin inspired guitar style at times. So yeah, I was a little surprised by that.
The total outcome is an album that is sonically indebted to King Crimson, Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, the aforementioned Mahavishnu Orchestra, and to their obvious namesake The Sun Ra Arkestra. Ghost Town is effective at evoking its namesake, in producing music that is often surprisingly sparse despite the presence of, well, an orchestra (or a D’Arkestra, ahem…), by allowing equal measure to every instrument. And make no doubt about it; this is primarily an instrumental record, although the occasional vocal goes a long way in breaking up the monotony. This isn’t a reinvention of the wheel by any measure, but it is certainly a pleasant detour, and this despite the fact that that detour is in a Ghost Town.
http://www.never-nervous.com/2013/03/review-darkestra-ghost-town.html
FEBRUARY 24, 2013
D’Arkestra
Ghost Town
(SELF-RELEASED) - NEVER NERVOUS

Being late on the draw has never been our problem here at Never Nervous, where better-late-than-never is the modus operandi. Featuring ex-members of Lucky Pineapple and Another 7 Astronauts, D’Arkestra live up to the expectations set by their previous affairs. Lithe and elegant, their most recent album Ghost Town is equal parts jazzy, prone to prog-rock trappings, and strangely haunting. It seems appropriate then that Ghost Town was released on Halloween of 2012.
D’Arkestra manage to impress with their skillful craftsmanship throughout the record. Where Lucky Pineapple seemed apt to explore the depths of the genres that they plumbed, D’Arkestra seem equally apt to fuse stylistic tropes to create a greater whole. Track to track D’Arkestra vary greatly, adeptly pivoting between styles, weaving in intermittently a rather lovely female vocal, but leaving ample room to focus on instrumentation. I went into this expecting an emphasis on the horn section of the band, but was surprised to find equal attention paid to all instruments, which includes a rather John McClaughlin inspired guitar style at times. So yeah, I was a little surprised by that.
The total outcome is an album that is sonically indebted to King Crimson, Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, the aforementioned Mahavishnu Orchestra, and to their obvious namesake The Sun Ra Arkestra. Ghost Town is effective at evoking its namesake, in producing music that is often surprisingly sparse despite the presence of, well, an orchestra (or a D’Arkestra, ahem…), by allowing equal measure to every instrument. And make no doubt about it; this is primarily an instrumental record, although the occasional vocal goes a long way in breaking up the monotony. This isn’t a reinvention of the wheel by any measure, but it is certainly a pleasant detour, and this despite the fact that that detour is in a Ghost Town.
http://www.never-nervous.com/2013/03/review-darkestra-ghost-town.html
FEBRUARY 24, 2013
D’Arkestra
Ghost Town
(SELF-RELEASED) - NEVER NERVOUS