Jazz Articles about The Flail

The Flail: Never Fear

by Budd Kopman
September 3, 2006

The Flail is a terrific young quintet that feels like a cooperative, but is compositionally led, at least on Never Fear, by trumpeter Dan Blankinship. The band takes the current language of modern jazz and gives it a very personal twist that's full of energy and humor, telling stories along the way by using loose arrangements that allow for the maximum interaction between the band members without letting them fall into chaos. An earlier self-released recording from ...