Review: A New Jazz Gem and an Album by the Same Name - “A Bee in the Drum”
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY TYLER SMITH ☆
LIKE A NEW TAKE ON AN OLD STANDARD — Eric Nachtrab’s original composition “A Bee in the Drum” is confident, familiar, and refreshing. The titular single closes the bassist/composer’s upcoming second album with his project, Bastard Ideals. Nachtrab’s ensemble is completed by drums and a platoon of three rotating horn players. “A Bee in the Drum” showcases the enchanting dual tenor sax combo that defines the album.
The saxophones sing a sleepwalking melody before kicking off the solos, which assert the group’s virtuosity, the entry point to the album’s less accessible compositions. Nachtrab’s bass leads the tune into a fuller second half with a fiery tenor solo and a thick hiss of ride, crash, and open hi-hats. But after drummer Jonathan Barahal Taylor delivers a lively solo, the group ditches the opening melody. The saxes repeat a charming two-note phrase, and the bass and drums play out a tricky groove — a matter-of-fact goodbye from a not-so-simple album.
Free from the organization of piano and guitar chords, Nachtrab’s quintet has a crisp, open, spontaneous sound, where each musician can emote dynamically. While “A Bee in the Drum” hardly represents the whole record, which explores free jazz and breaks into Sabbath-like rock, it highlights the album’s promise. The more you listen to it, and sit with it, you might realize you like music you didn’t know you did.
A Bee in the Drum is out now.
