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Bob Dogan
Andys Jazz Club
September 3rd 2010
11 E. Hubbard
Chicago, Ill
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Shawn Maxwell
Louies Chophouse
September 3rd 2010
4642 West 103rd
Oak Lawn, Ill
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Spare Parts - Trio
Kevin Kozol – Keyboards
Colin Scott – Bass
Mike Bruno – Drums
On Chicago’s jazz scene today there are plenty of straight-ahead jazz groups playing standards and jazz classics. There are lots of saxophonists, many of them outstanding, writing original material that is often times captivating. There are at least two separate avant-garde scenes of note and a very interesting alt-jazz scene with some amazing talent playing around town as well. And we haven’t even gotten to the legion of outstanding vocalists that Chicago can boast. But there’s only one Spare Parts.
What makes these guys stand out is the sheer scope of what they do. This might sound like an odd comment to someone only vaguely familiar with their sound. After all, to a first time listener these guys are going to remind one––a lot––of Medeski, Martin & Wood. But with multiple listens to Trio, their debut disc, one realizes that these guys are like thieves in the night. From Wayne Horovitz and Zony Mash to the Benevento-Russo Duo, these guys sound like they’ve been listening to and jamming along with every great organ group to have come along since Big John Patton stepped foot into Rudy Van Gelder’s studio back in the sixties.
Is that a bold comment? Probably. But it’s also true. What makes Trio even more fun is the fact that while its clear that they’ve done more than their fair share of listening to music that can become a show of chops for chops’ sake, Spare Parts make sure that every single note that gets played here serves the groove first, which means that even when the sixteenth and thirty-second notes are flying, they still bring the funk, first and foremost. And if choice in material already set them apart from much of the jazz scene in Chicago, their ability to make a pocket regardless of what they’re doing sets them apart from the rest of it.
That pocket is apparent within the first four bars of this disc on its opening tune, “Meteorite.” If people are going to make a Medeski, Martin & Wood comparison, it’s largely because of this song, but that only tells half the story. Sure, the organ tones are similar, and it shares the same loose funk feel that is the hallmark of MMW’s sound. But where MMW feels the need to get weird if it’s not funky, Spare Parts are much more willing to revel in a groove. Their interplay is fantastic, especially between keyboardist Kevin Kozol and drummer Mike Bruno.
Bassist Colin Scott takes charge on the next couple of tracks, “Trilogy I & II and Part III.” This is one of those tracks that is fantastic because it’s so familiar, without one being able to pinpoint exactly what it’s reminiscent of. Sure, Kozol’s keyboard lines are vaguely Bernie Worrell-esque (he’s the keyboardist in Parliament), and it’d be easy to compare Scott’s bassline to something by Les Claypool, but that’d be too easy. Instead, one would just have to acknowledge that these three can lay down some serious funk, whether it be the kind meant to get you on the dance floor, or the kind that makes you tap your foot while your mouth is left gaping.
It’d be all too easy to run through each track and credit the influences––both implied and obvious––on each of these tracks, but that would miss the point. Clearly, a band that can lay down the funk for seventy minutes with nary a dull spot in the mix is doing something right. Very right.
It’s made that much easier to get things right when you have a fairly constant platform with which to get your ideas together, something that Spare Parts has had for quite some time.
Every Thursday at Alive One, in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood these guys are throwing down, and the reports week after week are astounding. A jazz band (no matter how funky) is packing a decently sized room on a weeknight with young jazz fans eager to dance and hear some excellent music. Chicago’s jazz scene should be elated.
So, support these things where they’re happening––and grab a copy of Trio while you’re at it. If you love your jazz grooving and in the pocket, you’re going to love this disc.
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