Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Shawn Thwaites Rebel Quartet: New Life

1

Shawn Thwaites Rebel Quartet: New Life

By

View read count
Shawn Thwaites Rebel Quartet: New Life
If there's one impression about Shawn Thwaites that jumps out at first glance, it's a willingness to jokingly twist expectations. The Trinidadian-American's music is billed as "modern jazz intertwining hip-hop, funk and calypso"—a blending just as offbeat as his choice of steel drums for main instrument—and his Rebel Quartet actually turns out to have six members. The band shows the same defiant and carefree attitude throughout their debut New Life, making for a listen as zesty and colorful as its eye-popping cover.

Okay, it's not completely carefree when the brief introductory rap of "Westcoastin'" is followed by a weighty phone-call interlude early on, but those spots aside, Thwaites and the band just bring the good times and let the music speak for itself. The hip-hop element is otherwise relegated to a light smattering of electronic beats in a couple spots. The majority of New Life shows the group kicking through lively cabana grooves and trading off solos with glee. The leader's delightfully vibrant steel-drum work makes for a cheery tropical vibe while the horn players in particular wail their heads off.

Thwaites' interests cover all those things mentioned above as well as gentle balladry, slinky R&B and Cajun swing. Never mind any expectations of genre (or anything else for that matter). In any mode, these rebels' spirited positivity offers a romping good time to keep the drinks flowing and the room hopping.

Track Listing

Black Fist; Westcoastin'; Dirty Truth; First Born; Hood Suite; Rt. 50; Europa; Out of the Rain; Interlude; Jordyn.

Personnel

Shawn Thwaites
drums, steel

Album information

Title: New Life | Year Released: 2017 | 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

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

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.