•
Rating: Kneebody: who are they? Well, they are five young guys from the USA under thirty who create an impressive amount of sound volume. Sax, trumpet, drums, five-string electric bass, Fender Rhodes piano, and a sea of effect pedals at their feet. Practically, they all use "extensive effects," except the drummer. Let's start from the beginning: on February 28, 2006, we had the pleasure of hosting Kneebody in my town for a performance. Their leader is Shane Endsley, a trumpeter from Colorado, living in New York, and trained at Ralph Alessi's school. Accompanying him are Adam Benjamin on piano, Ben Wendel on sax, Nate Wood on drums, all from the Los Angeles area (west coast), and the gentle giant Kaveh Rastegar on bass, also from Colorado but in L.A. for work. The fact that they are four on one coast and one on the other does not prevent them from keeping the Kneebody reality alive because there is such a communion of energy that it evidently cannot be dispersed.
Starting with the rhythm section, we can say that Kaveh, who has a traditional academic-jazz training on double bass, uses the electric bass in an absolutely unconventional yet radical way: he often arpeggiates with his index-middle-ring fingers while hitting low notes with his thumb, for an amazing "low guitar" effect; this, combined with the use of an octaver, phaser, and other unmentionable effects, creates an accompaniment that, if sometimes is simply... "very energetic," often serves as a true granite pivot around which the entire band revolves, with its very peculiar overall sound. Add to this Nate Wood on drums who, despite weighing around 45 kilos (perhaps even less!), plays in a determined, precise, creative, and wild way from the first to the last beat, except for the few pianissimo moments in the show, where he deftly throws cymbals in the air that fall to the floor to contribute to the global happening. The themes, long, tormented but somehow very melodic and even catchy, are exposed in unison by sax and trumpet, while the piano with effects does its support work with the typical Rhodes' biting sound, suspended between Zappa's Grand Wazoo and the best 70s funk. Deafening volume. But you leave the concert pleasantly deaf and still traumatized by unthinkable and irreverent sounds, even for ears far from virgin like those of the humble writer!!! Congratulations, guys: amazement is the word most suitable for you. Regarding their first self-titled album just released, it doesn't make much sense here to talk about each track, as what impresses you from start to finish is the overall compactness of the work; the wall of sounds, sometimes clean and other times distorted or effected, somehow harnessed in a basic jazz network that will see them labeled as "contemporary jazz" on the international shelves of Tower Records or Borders, even though this type of sound is objectively unclassifiable: personally I would dare, besides the best Zappa, to recognize massive doses of “Red” (vintage King Crimson) and even some Prodigy (stuff for immediate arrest).
There is much funk, much fresh energy, and a totally new impact. It is said around here, and I would have the proof, of shady characters who, after the concert, bought the record and can only remove it from the car player to put it in the home stereo and vice versa. Unresolvable neighborhood wars start in the world after their concerts and all the lawyers are rubbing their hands. Exorcism and decontamination actions are currently at the experimental stage on guinea pigs at the NHI in Bethesda (Md, USA) to try to cure the "worldwide Kneebody" infected as soon as possible. Or at least to redirect them to more traditional and less harmful dependencies for the brain like crack, cocaine, and compulsive sex. Meanwhile, the tragically affected live with their family, work, study while remaining suspended in a perilous psychedelic-energizing dimension, with a Mona Lisa smile stamped on their faces. Great record, great these guys. As usual, my negligible emotional advice: get it!!!!!! :-) V.
Loading comments slowly
