Montreal guitarist Ben Copland Gilbert claims that this young project was “born out of a desire to get jazz musicians to not play jazz”, which is partly the case on the amazing Copeland. And not playing jazz here means falling head over heels into metal, riffs surly, soon Lift Off in opening. On Stir Crazywith his groove related to the funk-rock-metal of Faith No More, it is the brass that lends itself to the game, the trumpet of Violet Hébert lacerating the dense orchestrations, while the dub touch of Tananana will evoke the mutant funk-metal of Bill Laswell’s Praxis project. As energetic and hungry as the band sounds (which also includes bassist Carl Mayotte), they are also capable of nuances, on the remarkable Room empty for example, a ballad on which Hugo Leclerc’s clarinet offers a rich melodic counterpoint to Jeanne Laforest’s vocals. Jazz fusion lovers will be delighted, provided they are not too frightened by the weight of the guitars.
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