Music / Jazz
Review: Partisans, The Mall
According to saxophonist Julian Siegel the Partisans formula is straightforward enough: either he or guitarist Phil Robson writes a tune then bassist Thaddeus Kelly and drummer Gene Calderazzo do their best to destroy it.
After nearly 20 years it still seems to be working, as last year’s ace CD Swamp attested and, to judge by the set they delivered at The Mall, they’re still at the top of the game.
Generally seen as the instigators of rock-hewn post-jazz it was that very tension between elegant and complex melodies out front and restlessly irreverent rhythm games behind that created the excitement in their live playing, from opener Flip The Sneck’s lilting African guitar brought savagely down by a dirty prog-rock bass riff to the lively soca of Test Match friendly encore Pearly Gates with its subversive drumming.
Highpoints in between definitely included the epic Mama Badgers, fragmented shards of funk overlaid with ridiculously ornate unison guitar and sax and replete with the biggest drum solo of the evening (in 7-time, no less).
Calderazzo’s playing was on top form, throwing flurries of unexpectedness into rock-solid moments and inspiring Robson’s pedal collection to find even rockier sounds. For the space-inspired Overview he even conjured up a Fender Rhodes sound to perfection, making Siegel’s soprano sax suddenly sound very Wayne Shorterish, a demonic snake charmer.
Throughout the evening, however, it was the moments of group improvisation that really stood out, especially in the tidal Low Glow that repeatedly coalesced only to be torn to pieces again like Prometheus’ liver and Swamp’s anarchic coda following a very Miles-inspired introduction.
All of the pieces managed to use their own complexities for fun, evident on the faces of musicians and audience alike, but it would be a mistake to let their flippant ease mislead you: the Partisans are seriously good players and that’s what made it all work so well.
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