Quick: define jazz.<\/p>\n
Nope, sorry… whatever you answered, it’s probably only
\npartially correct. With all the different flavors that jazz can
\nhave, the only certainty about this genre is that there are no hard
\nrules nor solid definitions of what it is.<\/p>\n
Once you understand this, it makes the latest release from The
\nGrassy Knoll,
\nIII<\/i>, easier to understand. At times ambient noise, at times
\nsounding like industrial jazz, at times sounding like a rock band,
\nThe Grassy Knoll break all the rules that you might know about
\nmusic and make things interesting – that is, once you get used to
\nits bizarre, unique flavor.<\/p>\n
Whatever you do, don’t base your entire opinion of this
\ncollective of musicians on the opening minute of “A Beaten Dog
\nBeneath The Hail”. Admittedly, it is tough to get through, but it
\ndoes conjure up the image suggested by the song’s title. Once you
\nget through the weirdness, however – and it only lasts about 52
\nseconds – the song shifts into the pleasantly strange amalgam The
\nGrassy Knoll plays. Under the guide of multi-instrumentalist Bob
\nGreen (who handles all the bass and most of the guitar work),
\nIII<\/i> begins to take shape, though its final molded appearance
\nis anyone’s guess.<\/p>\n
Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore, one of the pioneers of
\nambient music, makes a guest appearance on three tracks, but the
\nband itself is so tight in its looseness that if you didn’t have
\nthe album credits in front of you, you’d never know it was him.<\/p>\n
The jazz influences come into play on songs like “Blue Wires,”
\nwhich not only keep the sense of musical weirdness about them but
\nalso create some grooving rhythms that you’ll have to fight against
\ntapping your foot to. Lord help us, they even dare to get a little
\nfunky on “Paul Has An Emotional Uncle” – who woulda thunk it?<\/p>\n
Often, when listening to the controlled madness of
\nIII<\/i>, I found myself comparing it to some of Frank Zappa’s
\nmore ambitious work. Like Zappa, some of the efforts are great
\nsuccesses, while others are great annoying failures. In the end,
\nThe Grassy Knoll seems to be trying too hard, and the formula tends
\nto weaken as the album progresses on. I guess under different
\ncircumstances, tracks like “Thunder Ain’t Rain” and “III” would be
\nbetter, but not after I’ve been hit over the head with the same
\nconcepts throughout the whole album.<\/p>\n
The biggest obstacle that you will face listening to
\nIII<\/i> is getting used to their sound, which switches from
\nunlistenable and weird to groovy and weird. If you’re not used to
\nsuch eclecticism in music, you’re sure to fling down your
\nheadphones and run for the exits. However, if you give the album
\nenough time, and you give yourself enough time to get into the
\nunique rhythms that are being laid out in front of you, then you
\nshould find yourself past the most difficult part of the journey
\nafter one listen.<\/p>\n
Ah, but there’s the rub.
\nIII<\/i> is not an album you are going to understand with just
\none listen. Instead, it challenges you to continue listening to it
\nin order to develop your own appreciation of the music. Maybe
\nyou’ll come to enjoy their use of samples; maybe it will be
\nadmiration for the saxophone work; maybe it will be astonishment
\nover the constant blending of genres in the music. Whatever the
\ncase, most likely your reaction after one listen would be, “What
\nthe hell was that?”<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for The Grassy Knoll, interest in ambient jazz is
\nnot like Hanson releasing a new album; it’s not going to reach a
\nhigh saturation point in the market. Pity, for while
\nIII<\/i> is an album that is at times brilliant and other times
\nfrustrating, it is an experience that is worth taking repeatedly.
\nHere’s hoping someone gives them a chance; even if they open up the
\nears of a few new listeners, the album will have been worth
\neveryone’s time and money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7541],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-39318","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-grassy-knoll","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39318"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}