Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jamie Ruben: Groove-O-Ly-O-Scene

220

Jamie Ruben: Groove-O-Ly-O-Scene

By

View read count
Jamie Ruben: Groove-O-Ly-O-Scene
With his debut album as leader, Canadian guitarist Jamie Ruben leads a quintet of Toronto's finest session and touring players in carving out a groove of relaxed and laidback light jazz on Groove-O-Ly-O-Scene. Inspired by the music of Medeski Martin & Wood, The Bad Plus and the incomparable Frank Zappa, Ruben's music attempts a tasteful hybrid without Zappa's outlandish antics.

Offering an all-original selection of music, the light grooves begin with "AQ Giraffe" and continue throughout the disc. Of the nine tracks presented, "Kwan-Teen" and "Introduction to Monsieur Slidey" serve as introductions, leaving seven full pieces. In sampling the meat of the album, there is a hint of a worldly sound which may be due in part to Ruben's seven years as a jazz performer in the Far East, as well as touring in the UK, Holland and Belgium.

On "Albino Bison," Ruben plays the guitar like a rock star, in front of William Sperandei's splendid trumpet lines. "Pennapa" comes across as an airy, organic number sporting a soft melody, while "Bangkok 504" reflects a darker theme—perhaps in reference to his year-long stay in Thailand. "Lanta" possesses similar qualities in tone and texture, while still remaining light in structure. With a little help from keyboardist Dafydd Hughes and steady beats from drummer Ryan Granville-Martin, "Pai Crowd" surges forward as one of the album's defining pieces.

Demonstrating his chops, Ruben delivers the finale, "Monsieur Slidey," sliding his fingers up and down the scales with ease and grace. Definitely not a swinging affair, Groove-O-Ly-O-Scene marches to a different tune, a much lighter approach and a softer groove led by Jamie Ruben's simple but superb guitar voice.

Track Listing

AQ Giraffe; Albino Bison; Kwan-Teen; Pennapa; Bangkok; Lanta; Pai Crowd; Introducing Monsieur Sildey; Monsieur Sildey.

Personnel

Jamie Ruben
guitar

Jamie Ruben: guitar; William Sperandei: trumpet; Dafydd Hughes: keyboards; Steve Zsirai: bass; Ryan Granville-Martin: drums.

Album information

Title: Groove-O-Ly-O-Scene | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Self Produced

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.