Finely Tuned Elephant: No Goats

The Ottawa-based jazz-rock group, Finely Tuned Elephant, sounds like a band that Steely Dan might have hired to craft their sound. A quartet comprised of guitarist Jordan Robinson (the group's leader), bass guitarist Cyrus Robertson Orkish, keyboardist Alex Lugli and drummer Kyle Iveglia crafts a sharp, tight sound. They are snappy and upbeat. A blind listen might draw the guess of Chick Corea's early Elektric Band, or maybe Herbie Hancock's '70s fusion work.

Everything about the release says "Good Times," from the band's name to the disc's title, No Goats, to the cheeky cover art—a group of anthropomorphised, bipedal, 'finely tuned'  elephants looking askance at four goats who are trying to gain entrance—in pachyderm disguise—to the exclusive elephant clubhouse. Absurd? Yes. Sometimes the world cries out for some absurdity. In the group name, the tile, the concept and the cover art, Finely Tuned Elephant dishes out a dose of salubrious absurdity. In their music, they serve well-crafted fusion and jazz funk with rock undertones that give off an "all is well with the world" vibe.

The band's publicity blurb says of No Goats: "It's the soundtrack to the greatest video game you've never played." Well and accurately stated.

This is the group's third album. There is, conceptually, with No Goats, a sense of letting go. It may be the only jazz album in existence about an exclusive elephant's club tasked with preventing the entrance of goats. Musically, there is a sense of all of the pieces fitting together with a tight, modernistic fit, creating technically advanced sounds that translate into an engaging listening experience.