Siena Root
Root Jam

All the power of analog.

Root Jam is the tribute they gave themselves for their ten years on the road and a precious gift for those with ears refined by time and tempered by classic rock in all its forms.

Wielding custom shop instruments and giving their boutique amps a dusting, the Swedes finally bring to life a live album that's worth every penny. After an intro in a Morricone style, the key to this double live in their Stockholm is the unreleased rock/blues "The Rat" where a valve riff and Sanya's masculine singing go hand in hand. In fact, here we find all the singers and musicians who have contributed to the studio works or simply as friends during their short career as guests, almost to reaffirm the celebratory character of this release. So in addition to the stable line-up: K.G. West/Love/Sam Riffer, we find a handful of singers among whom Oskar Undstrom stands out in "Into The Woods" and in the epic "Words," 12 minutes of electric cavalcades further enriched by Maxi Dread's guest appearance on the second guitar.

The Swedes randomly draw from their repertoire (the four full-lengths plus the initial unreleased) often allowing themselves changes on the fly, increasing the duration or transforming the content, with "Trippin" being the example. (An electric track in the studio, here completely rearranged in an acoustic version with a late sixties flavor, if I may). Scattered here and there, but they are the true backbone of the album, Anna Sandberg's flute already experienced in the oriental "Different Realities" (2009) and a range of Indian and Arab instruments: sitar, small percussion, duff, derbuka, raag jog and the hurdy gurdy (our hurdy-gurdy) that I had only heard so far in a medieval-Arabesque version. Add to this a Hammond played in tandem and KG West's retro guitar abounding. The final result is the right balance between the relaxed atmosphere of a Taj Mahal and the vibrating energy of a stage set ablaze, making this live more than a simple watt distillery. Final closure with the duo "Rasayana" and the sonic orgy of "Reverberations" for another sixteen minutes of jam. (Many of today's teenagers won't appreciate it, but that's another story).

In all, 90 minutes of total music borrowed from the best seventies that catapults you mentally onto that Stockholm stage but with your feet soaked in the Ganges.

And for those who think playing "old" is just an escape from reality, well, this "Root Jam" is a great exercise at the end of which you'll be left with all the sweat of a coast to coast done under the blazing sun.

They could also be called The Atomic-Wishbone-Purple-Heep for all that's on the table, but that would be reductive.

The opinion of the commendatore Bossolazzi:

The ultimate experience would be getting the double LP 180 g version to give a sense to Sam Riffer's deep-bass concept. Only then can you agree with me that 5 medlars are a must.