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Pilots in the Basement by Serge Rogalski
From the album
Album Title: La Cueva de Goya
Silsey Publishing
Released: 2026
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About the Album
“Pilots in the Basement” is taken from La Cueva de Goya, the second EP by the Paris-based Serge Rogalski Trio, following This Is Not a Blues, which was recently reviewed by Sue Yang for All About Jazz.
Built around a dense and unstable dialogue between electric guitar, electric bass and drums, the piece occupies a space where contemporary jazz, free improvisation and experimental rock naturally intersect. Its title suggests an improbable underground navigation, and the music unfolds accordingly: through abrupt changes of direction, fractured rhythmic figures, suspended passages and sudden bursts of collective momentum.
The trio—Serge Rogalski on electric guitar, Gael Petrina on electric bass and Sam Ospovat on drums—approaches the composition less as a fixed form than as an evolving terrain. Repeated motifs emerge, collide and dissolve, while the musicians continuously reshape the balance between pulse, texture and improvisation.
Rogalski's guitar shifts between angular riffs, saturated timbres and more spacious gestures. Petrina's electric bass is both melodic and architectural, alternately anchoring the music with deep, driving ostinatos and disrupting its centre of gravity through fluid counterpoint. Ospovat's drumming acts as an equal conversational voice, redirecting the music through dynamic contrasts, asymmetrical accents and explosive collective interplay.
Although highly exploratory, “Pilots in the Basement” never loses its physical intensity. Rather than abandoning groove, the trio repeatedly deconstructs and reassembles it, allowing tension and propulsion to coexist with moments of openness and abstraction.
Recorded live in the studio with no edits or overdubs, the performance captures the immediacy of three musicians listening and reacting in real time. Within La Cueva de Goya, “Pilots in the Basement” stands as one of the EP's most kinetic and structurally adventurous pieces, illustrating the trio's commitment to collective improvisation, sonic exploration and a contemporary vision of electric jazz.
Tracks
1 - Snail Kung-Fu Training Song 2 - Pilots in the Basement 3 - La Cueva de Goya part I 4 - La Cueva de Goya Part II 5 - El Astronauta Anónimo 6 - Nit Nach Zay III
Personnel
Date featured
October 28, 2026
This song appears by permission of the contributing artist and/or record company. It is for personal use only; no other rights are granted or implied.
