Cameron Graves: Seven

Rating: ★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Max Gerl
Mike Mitchell
Colin Cook
Kamasi Washington
Cameron Graves (p, v)

Label:

Artistry Music ART

March/2021

Media Format:

CD, DL

Catalogue Number:

7066

RecordDate:

Rec. 8-18 February 2018, 18 December 2018, 2018-1 February 2019

Blimey! Did they have a bus to catch? Graves and co. billywhizz through 11 cuts in just 32 minutes. Graves calls Seven ‘thrash jazz’, but it ain't no ‘Ace of Spades’. It's not particularly thrashy, although it's certainly flashy with its high velocity and grandiose themes as on ‘The Life Carriers’. Chunky, rock-ish rhythms set up a number, as on ‘Super Universes’, but they rarely develop. As Kamasi Washington's piano man it's no surprise there's a soupcon of mystic aura with titles like ‘Master Spirits’, ‘Eternal Paradise’ and ‘Sacred Spheres’ but it's sluggishly earth bound, not spiritually uplifting. Washington himself lends some soulish sax to the more measured title track, while the solo, romantically inclined ‘Fairytales’ reveals the piano man in more meditative mood. You can hear some debt to Corea and RTF, but Hiromi does the thrash thing equally well but with a whole gallery of variations. Neil Cowley likewise can pump out those linear themes but with more wit and wisdom.

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