Smooth Elevator: Moving Target

With a band name that bespeaks fluid motion in the general direction of ascent, Smooth Elevator has set a high bar for itself. But the international trio of guitarist Will Bernard, bassist Danilo Gallo and drummer Gioele Pagliaccia wisely recorded Moving Target live in the studio, fresh from live dates, and, in so doing, captured the purity of their instrumental dynamic over the course of a baker's dozen selections.

Taking into account such serendipity, it is thus little wonder that this music is all self-composed, by the respective individuals in the group as well as in shared efforts. Bernard's "Slow Mover" kicks things off with alternating segments of angularity offset with mellifluous clarity and, as such, it is a microcosm of his style of guitaring.

His two comrades contribute in kind for the duration of the cut and, indeed, the entirety of the LP. It is thus only natural that the threesome's roles shift in the course of the performance as such variable connections and relationships depend on the composer and the nature of the material.

To wit, Gallo's "Erik" is an extended moment of atmospheric repose and Pagliaccia's "Leda" allows the threesome to effectively float through the changes. All this action arrives just prior to all three riding the momentum of the group-composed "Miguel's Panda": once the ensemble gets moving with sufficient force, their musicianship carries them by shared instinct alone.

Comparatively short as is that track at 3:44 and "P.M. Gone" only slightly longer by a minute, seven minutes plus of "Urban Modesty" reaffirms how this unit can maintain a collective thought for a sustained period. All are graciously willing to listen closely, yet remain sufficiently alert to respond at a second's notice in order to elaborate on a theme melodic or rhythmic.

Captured live in concert the same November 2024 Smooth Elevator had repaired to the studio, "Blues For Bologna" is fittingly positioned at the end of these 66-plus minutes, a purposeful move no doubt designed to reaffirm Smooth Elevator's bond on the stage.As the band immerses itself in relative (and comparable) dual levels of spontaneity, there is no discernible difference in the intricacy of improvisation (and this track allows Bernard to flash his deceptively sharp slide playing).

The realism of the sonics on Moving Target is likewise constant over the course of this hour-plus. Mixed and mastered by Vincenzo De Leo in the rhythm section's home country of Italy, the instrumental depth and presence is more than metaphorical: In a reflection of the implicitly kinetic cover art, the sound is simultaneously prodding and enrapturing and ultimately all-encompassing as it flows outward from speakers or phones.

In further marked contrast to the involved relationships as well as the humbly unaffected persona of Smooth Elevator, it is difficult to know how seriously to take liner notes by one "Randle Patrick McMurphy." Nonetheless, the descriptions ostensibly authored by a doppelganger of the main character in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Viking Press & Signet Books, 1962) accurately delineate how the band navigates their chosen terrain with equal amounts patience and persistence.

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