CC Syndicate: Flying High

The CC is Peruvian drummer-composer Cote Calmet; the Syndicate is a jazz-funk quartet baring multiple musical signposts. Based in Granada after a decade in Ireland, Calmet has found new creative energy under the Spanish sun. In Andalusia, he has reactivated both Phisqa, his Afro-Peruvian jazz quintet, and CEO(L) Experiment, after long periods of hibernation. African and Latin rhythms are essential drivers of both groups, but with CC Syndicate, Calmet turns to '70s funk and jazz-rock for his grooves.

Besides Calmet, the other link between Phisqa and CEO(L) Experiment is Spanish saxophonist Carlos Ligero, who brings Maceo Parker-esque drive and modernist flair to Flying High. Rounding out the CC Syndicate are Irish electric bassist Tommy Moore and Peruvian guitarist Pierre Huarniz. The group wears its influences proudly. Even the radio crackle and the faux-announcer introducing the band on the barnstorming title track suggest nostalgia for a past when jazz-funk and jazz rock behemoths roamed Earth.

Calmet has no shortage of memorable heads, the striking opening melodies across these 11 compositions played by Ligero and Huarniz in unison, more often than not. The saxophonist and guitarist trade visceral solos on every track, with Ligero's sparing use of pedal effects shaking up the sonic palette. Huarniz's attacking, blues-flecked approach conjures John Scofield at times. This is especially true on "Aji," one of two funk-laced groovers—the other being "Shake it till you Make It"—that make no bones about the debt they owe to James Brown. On the punchy "Mango," the guitarist's gnarly attack leans more towards Scott Henderson, but whatever his influences, Huarniz is an exciting talent.

At an hour, the album teeters on the verge of being a couple of jazz-funk tracks too long. Thankfully, the mellifluous ballad "For Her," brings a welcome change of pace and mood. Likewise, the psychedelic fusion of the Miles Davis/Weather Report-inspired "Granada," with its underlying tanpura drone and Moorish air, offers a heady diversion from the prevailing jazz-funk formula. Calmet's polyrhythmic bustle and Moore's bass riff inject unrelenting drive as saxophone and guitar dovetail. It is arguably the album's least danceable track, but a standout all the same.

The leader takes just one solo, a blistering Billy Cobham-esque fusillade—over a vamp, naturally—on "Instinct" that nearly steals the thunder from a fired-up Huarniz. But it is Calmet's in-the-pocket grooves and spicy punctuations that give the album as a whole much of its instant appeal. "Walkin' Here" closes the album with a rocking dose of jazz-funk that is close in spirit to James Blood Ulmer's avant-garde flame.

If ever music was designed for the dancefloor of a sweaty club or a sun-kissed festival stage, it is surely CC Syndicate's Flying High. A mood-lifting, multi-layered jazz-funk adrenaline shot that's close to the '70s sources.