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Industrial Jazz Group
The Star Chamber
Innova Recordings, 2005
by Dr. Christian Carey Some might think, due to their name, that the Industrial Jazz Group would be busy creating caterwauling feedback and bandsaw solos - not so. Their third full length album, The Star Chamber, is filled with bold arrangements that combine the punk jazz attitude of groups like the Bad Plus (on a larger stage) with Zappa-esque third stream. The title track is energetic, brash, and filled with terrific horn charts. "A Thousand Times No" features complex compound time syncopations and brilliant trumpet playing.
The group even includes a jocular, bluesy pastiche, "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboy Presidents" (wonder who that could be about?). Subtleties abound here too; "Gross Fugue" (gotta' love Beethoven puns) is filled with woodwind canons and contrapuntal interplay. Tasty soloing, tight ensemble performances, and a sense of humor distinguish The Star Chamber as a very satisfying recording.
-June 19, 2005