One of my annoyances with modern social media: Seeing the same posts again and again and again—and not just from the same “creator.” A week or two ago, for instance, I stumbled upon a slew of Facebook and Instagram remembrances about a long-ago September evening, when Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas chowed down on a banana (!) while her group lip-synced to “California Dreamin’” on The Ed Sullivan Show, allegedly to protest the falsity of the performance. The first post cited the year as 1976, which any halfwitted music historian such as myself can attest is wrong. The second and third ones did, too. A fourth one corrected the year to 1967, but the fact remains: We live in an age when plagiarism has become de rigueur. Quotes and footnotes are seen as relics of ancient times.
One thing that happened during the communal retreat from originality: Anything that veers from the same-old, same-old, is derided and dismissed. If the fear of the unfamiliar is real, and it is, that means challenging conventions brings with it the very real risk of rejection. It’s safer, from a financial perspective, to just give the people what they want—which is why we’re inundated with what I call “mimeographed marvels” in every corner of the art world.
I’m pushing it, I know. But those are the thoughts that occurred to me last night while listening to Max Jaffe’s You Want That Too! for the umpteenth time. For those unfamiliar with him, he’s a well-respected drummer and composer whose lengthy CV includes collaborations with a litany of modern jazz artists, including Patrick Shiroishi and Dave Harrington on last year’s acclaimed Speak, Moment. He utilizes Sensory Percussion, which—to borrow from the system’s website—“transform[s] your drum kit into a highly expressive electronic controller.”
As most things released on the Colorfield label, in other words, this new release belies categorization. It’s ambient, experimental, innovative, jazzy, and minimalistic, laidback yet taut, playing out somewhat like the soundtrack to an imaginary movie. Some pieces conjure a sleek sports car crawling down the empty streets of a big city at night, rain splattering against the windshield. Others find us pushing through busy sidewalks during the day, one hand on our hip to protect our wallets from pickpockets. “Each track,” Jaffe says in the press release, “was sculpted from pristine silence—whittled away with tone, harmony, rhythm.”
You Want That Too!, to be succinct, challenges expectations and perceptions. It’s not suited for background music; it demands attention, pulling the listener into its percussive rhythms. “S-NARE,” the lead single, is a good example.
“Looking at the Inside of Your Eyelids” plays out in more traditional fashion, with Daniel Rotem’s tenor sax floating through the rhythm like an echo from a bygone age. “Putney Waltz,” which follows, clicks and clacks to hypnotic effect. Another favorite of mine is “Ancestral Creeks,” which travels along the tributaries to the river that is time; it reminds me of Van Morrison circa the 1980s.
Singling out specific performances, however, is essentially a non-starter when it comes to an album such as this one. As I said above, it unreels as if the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with the listener filling in the scenes. It’s off-kilter and low-key, an intriguing symphony that all but demands repeated plays.
Recorded with Peter Min at Lucy’s Meat Market in Eagle Rock, CA, it features a slew of cool folks alongside Jaffe, who handles drums, acoustic and electronic percussion, synths and piano. In addition to Rotem, collaborators include Shelley Burgon (harp), Meg Duffy (electric guitar, MIDI guitar), Gavin Gamboa (piano, synthesizers), Logan Kane (double bass), Jeff Parker (electric guitar), and Spencer Zahn (fretless electric bass).
The Old Grey Cat 