#Bloomerangs Tear Down the House on New LP Moments and Fragments
By Deuce
When those not well versed in The Music think of jazz, they likely envision dull elevator tunes, a grandfather’s wobbly turntable spinning as you watch paint dry or, worst of all, perhaps, the easily digestible strains of Kenny G.
Although #Bloomerangs make a point of throwing in at least one of those numbers (specifically “Another Melancholy Waltz”, which is almost a parody as it’s tongue in cheek title suggests) on its latest album Moments and Fragments, for the most part the quartet shatters that paradigm by hearkening back to jazz’s rebellious, raucous beginnings.
Much like that of say, Jim Morrison and the Doors, true jazz deliberately builds up and tears down barriers, pushing listeners to the fringe of their own limitations, and propels them to somewhere they weren’t when the song, or album, began. The combination of Chris Parker (drummer, percussionist, and composer), Rodrigo Cotelo (guitarist, music director, and lead producer) Stefan Lenth (bass) and Clay Wulbrecht (piano and keys) manage to achieve this end on many of Moments and Fragments‘ tracks, frequently to spectacular effect.
The most easily demonstrable, moving piece on the album has got to be “Leaps and Bounds”, which moves with all the elements of transcendence. The drums are crashing in rhythm as Parker does the most on this number, heightening the track’s energy. Wulbrecht tickles both an organ sound and the ivories, manning the latter with one hand banging on chords while the other lays down a frenzied melody. Honestly, it would’ve been a treat to watch the foursome laying this one down, as they deliver the riotousness of a Pharoah Sanders in the ’60s with a modernity that would do just about any of the greats justice.
The underlying motif of the album, of course, is the sharded moments of which the cuts are comprised. Some consist of a single, jagged piece, such as “Untold”, which really gets the party going. In less than two minutes the quartet evokes images of skirts twirling, babes leaping over their partners, and fingers popping everywhere as coat tails fly from out of the 20’s or 30’s of the last century.
Other tracks, however, are seemingly compilations of disparate moods. “In Some Shape or Form” switches tempos and leads between the guitar and the piano for the duration of this eight minute affair, highlighted by the deft percussion of Wulbrecht.
This is an album one can listen to multiple times in multiple situations, typifying the best of music—let alone jazz—in that respect.
