What’s In My Headphones: This Week’s Musical Obsessions
The 'More Than This' effect: Gantzer drops ‘The Comeback Kids,’ AB Trio, JBQ's 'Revolution Blues'
I refer to it as the “More Than This” effect.
When I was attending college at SUNY Cobleskill, prior to making the jump to SUNY Fredonia, my big brother came down from Niagara University to visit me, and naturally, he brought a bunch of vinyl with him. (He was working at Zoundz, a record store in Niagara Falls, to pay for beer while going to college, and man, he happened upon a ton of precious vinyl during that time.)
One of the records my brother showed up with for this visit was Roxy Music’s Avalon, an album I knew of due to MTV, but had never really paid attention to, to say nothing of getting to know.
All that changed over beers in my Cobleskill dorm room on that night. I must’ve played “More Than This” more than 50 times, lifting the needle and re-dropping it ad infinitum. There was something magical about the melody, something indelible in the hook, something both wistful and uplifting in the way Bryan Ferry delivered the lyric. All these many years later, the song remains precious to me, and Avalon is a place I revisit consistently.
This week, Mike Gantzer (Aqueous/Death Kings/Dirty Work, et al) dropped his first solo single since the announcement of Aqueous’ hiatus, and I experienced the “More Than This” effect all over again. The song is called “The Comeback Kids,” and it’s a piece of music that pretty much demands to be listened to over and over again, with each successive spin revealing more within the sonic and emotional landscape.
The tune features the considerable contributions of Twiddle bassist Zdenek Gubb and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong drummer Alex ‘Gator’ Petropulos, with Gantzer handling the vocals, guitars, keyboards, production and mixing. The song is at turns funky, jammy, and deeply melodic, and the interplay between the musicians propels the arrangement forward, lending plenty of ear candy to the experience.
The readily apparent instrumental virtuosity never overshadows the strength of the writing, however - the playing serves the song, rather than serving to obscure it. That’s significant, because “The Comeback Kids” has a subtly powerful message to deliver - one that, like “More Than This,” is both wistful and hopeful.
One might read it as the author dealing with the life-changes that led to the Aqueous hiatus, and attempting to do so in a healthy and life-affirming way. But you needn’t know any personal biographical information to feel the song’s power, and its implicit suggestion that the only constant in life is constant change.
‘The Comeback Kids’ touches the heart without ever stooping to melodrama. It’s a beautiful piece of work, and hints at more great things to come from Gantzer. You can find it on Bandcamp. And you should.
I’ve also been immersing myself in a release from another regional artist - I mean that in the most non-pejorative sense possible - this week. Guitarist/composer/bandleader Adam Bronstein started blowing me away a decade or so back, when I saw him perform with his then-band, Universe Shark. In the time since, he’s developed into one of our scene’s finest jazz guitarists and composers, and his AB Trio album offers testimony to this fact.
Laid-back, soulful, and fueled by astute interplay between Bronstein and Trio members James Benders (bass) and Gabe Wells (drums), the album features additional contributions from bassist Honey Henry, tenor saxophonist Elliot Scozzaro and drummer Joe Goretti. I hear shades of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and John Scofield here, and these are not comparisons I’d make lightly. It’s hip stuff, tracked live and beautifully recorded, and the vinyl sounds particularly amazing when you are liberal with the volume.
Speaking of Buffalo jazz, I’ve also been digging the JBQ’s “Revolution Blues,” a collection that dropped late last year, but sadly, was buried beneath the detritus of my life for several months prior to my carving out some space for it. I’m glad I did.
Leader/primary composer/drummer John Bacon and his quintet - trumpeter John Hasselback III, saxophonist Elliot Scozzaro, guitarist Jared Tinkham, bassist Ed Croft, and guest Brendan Lanighan on trombone - tracked this collection of pieces at GCR Studios under the watchful ears of engineer Jenna Rutowski .
The album kicks off with a pair of Tinkham compositions dubbed “Shadows” and “Goodbye,” the former a hard-bop burner, and the latter a supple Latin jazz piece with a Stan Getz vibe. Everyone’s playing shines here, but of particular note is Tinkham, who is, for my money, one of his generation’s finest jazz guitarists.
At the center of the album is Bacon’s 5-part titular composition, a showcase for the ensemble’s stunning interplay across a variety of comic and harmonic landscapes. This is music that deserves your attention.
Happy listening, folks!