Mostly Other People Do The Killing

“Red Hot”

(Hot Cup Records HC125)

MOPDTK have been a regular presence on the Jazzmann web pages, the subject of several live and album reviews by Tim Owen and myself. Tim and I are both fans of the group’s irreverent approach to the whole jazz tradition and the way in which their lampooning of a variety of jazz’s sacred cows manages to combine a genuine (if sometimes heavily disguised) love of the objects of their satire with stunning 21st century feats of musicianship. It’s a wildly exciting mix that thrills with its virtuosity while at the same time is often laugh out loud funny. The group’s humour carries over into their album art, the covers of earlier releases have often featured pastiches of classic album sleeves from the past with Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, Roy Haynes and Keith Jarrett among the victims of their warped wit. Then there are the equally mischievous liner notes written by bassist, composer and leader Matthew “Moppa” Elliott under the pseudonym Leonardo Featherweight (see what he just did there?).
Tim coined the phrase “respectful irreverence” to describe the band’s approach and it is the perfect encapsulation of a band who have acquired something of a cult following both for their albums and for their wildly exciting live shows, Tim and I were lucky enough to catch them at London’s Vortex back in 2011, a show that I reviewed for this site even suggesting that MOPDTK are almost a bit too clever for their own good at times. It’s a valid criticism I think, but I still love the band for their energy, irreverence and sheer musical skill. This is a band that loves to take risks but likes to have fun at the same time.

“Red Hot’s” predecessor “Slippery Rock” saw Elliott moving away from the bebop and free jazz satires of the group’s first four albums and instead immersing himself in the music of a different jazz era, in this case the smooth jazz of the 1980’s. Elliott may have absorbed some of the compositional methodology of that much maligned era but there was nothing smooth about “Slippery Rock” which was as brash and brilliant as ever with some typically fiery MOPDTK playing. For “Red Hot” it’s the turn of the music of the 1920’s and 1930’s with Elliott now drawing on the compositional devices of an earlier era and giving them the MOPDTK treatment. It’s a more obvious homage to its chosen time than “Slippery Rock” with Elliott expanding the group from a quartet to a septet. Original members Elliott (bass), Jon Irabagon (saxes), Peter Evans (trumpet) and Kevin Shea (drums) are joined by Ron Stabinsky on piano, Brandon Seabrook on banjo and electronics and the veteran David Taylor on bass trombone. The three newcomers are fully integrated into the group sound and seem fully attuned to Elliott’s unique vision. The resultant music is a seething maelstrom (as ever) that draws from several different musical eras, the twenties and thirties influences are clearly audible but there’s so much more in there too, everything is fair game to MOPDTK.

The fun starts with Elliott’s/Featherweight’s liner notes, often an entertainment in themselves, and these with their references to spontaneous human combustion and musical figures both real and imagined are as surreal and amusing as anything he’s ever written. Once again the tunes are named after towns in Elliott’s native Pennsylvania beginning with “The Shickshinny Shimmy” a crazed mash up of jazz and other styles that incorporates New Orleans motifs, Coltrane style modal jazz and even hints of modern rock. Elliott states that he has investigated the formal structures of jazz and blues tunes of the late 20’s and early 30’s and noted the “frequent use of modulations, stop-time sections, alternating solos and tutti passages, uneven phrase lengths and shifts in meter”, commenting that these essential elements of that time period are “little used by 21st century jazz composers”. What Elliott does is to frequently pull ALL those elements together in the course of a single tune whilst also adding in other musical components from the last eighty years. It’s still recognisably MOPDTK music, audacious, adventurous and fun.

“Zelienople” begins with an extended drum feature from Shea, apparently playing a vintage 1930’s Slingerland drum kit which he apparently uses throughout the album. The tune itself is agreeably jaunty with effervescent solos from Evans and Taylor interspersed with chunkily percussive banjo and stride style piano as the irrepressible Shea continues to drum a storm. It’s less obviously a collision of styles than its predecessor but the vintage stylings still have an unmistakable contemporary edge.

“Red Hot” is a particularly excellent example of Elliott’s approach as it incorporates snatches of (at least) five different songs by the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, a formative influence on the young Elliott and juxtaposes them with elements derived from the compositional methods of Jelly Roll Morton, leader of the earlier Red Hot Peppers. It begins with the electronic whine of a sine wave which Seabrook incorporates into his banjo solo, a mind boggling mix of traditional and avant garde sounds. The main body of the tune with Stabinsky to the fore draws heavily on Morton’s style with several members of the band, including leader Elliott, enjoying some solo space. I’m not sufficiently familiar with the work of Kiedis, Flea et al to comment with any authority on that side of the proceedings.

“King Of Prussia” begins with an extended passage of quote laden solo piano with Stabinsky throwing everything from Scott Joplin to Joe Jackson into the mix. The main body of the tune references the swing era before slipping into more contemporary avant garde territory via Seabrook’s eerie bowed banjo and electronica and Evans’ stunning range of trumpet effects.

Leader Elliott kick-starts “Turkey Foot Corner” with an audacious solo bass feature before the ensemble develop a groove that sometimes evokes the sound of a stuck CD. Like much of the rest of the album the piece is high on whimsy and the group sound as if they’re having great fun, particularly Taylor who produces some fruity low register sounds on his trombone solo, and Evans who solos exuberantly on trumpet during the tunes closing stages.

“Seabrook, Power, Plank” references three Pennsylvania towns but also alludes to Seabrook’s power trio “Seabrook Power Plant”. As well as being the most inventive banjo player this side of Eugene Chadbourne Seabrook is also a poll winning guitarist. Here he shares the limelight with Irabagon who produces an extraordinary solo (frequently unaccompanied) on the rare C melody saxophone. Seabrook also delivers a remarkable statement on banjo, again often completely solo.

“Orange Is The Name Of The Town” is a skewed waltz based on the style of Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra with a title adapted from Charles Mingus. It somehow shoehorns in quotes from Disney tunes, undertakes a dramatic stylistic shift in the direction of John Coltrane with Stabinsky delivering a piano solo that applies the methods of McCoy Tyner to Elliott’s twenties and thirties compositional devices while squeezing in another shed load of quotes along the way, including a Viennese waltz. Phew! An ensemble shout chorus appears to end the piece only for Seabrook to be left alone with his banjo and electronica in an unusual coda.

“Gum Stump” opens with a freely improvised duet between Evans on trumpet and Irabagon on soprano sax. Together they produce some extraordinary, and very contemporary, free jazz sounds and it therefore comes as something of a shock when the piece lurches into a dirty sounding 12/8 blues based on the country blues style of Robert Johnson. Evans and Irabagon continue to improvise behind Taylor’s rousing bass trombone melody as the latter traces the history of the blues as perceived by Elliott. Taken overall it’s thrilling but perplexing juxtaposition of musical styles.

“Bird In Hand” brings the album to a brief joyous end, mixing major and minor themes and tipping the hat towards George Gershwin. Solo honours go to Irabagon with an outrageous soprano feature.

“Red Hot” is MOPDTK’s seventh album and Elliott claims that is the best that his group have made. He certainly has a point, the music is as inventive, skilled, irreverent and subversive as ever with the added bonus of an extended instrumental palette with Taylor, Stabinsky and Seabrook readily rising to the challenge. Some may regret hearing less of Irabagon and Evans but as the music Louis Armstrong’s Hot Sevens seemed to be the starting point of this project it made perfect sense to expand the group.

Some reviews have referenced the “descriptive jazz” of Raymond Scott and the “cut and paste” and “mash up” techniques of John Zorn and there’s something of both of these here but overall MOPDTK is the distillation of Elliott’s unique post modern musical vision channelled through a gang like mentality and executed with formidable technique. “Respectful Irreverence” , “Serious Fun”, call it what you will but it’s undeniably thrilling if maybe a little extreme for some tastes. With its added instrumentation “Red Hot” sounds very different to the group’s other albums but it’s still quintessential MOPDTK. 

     

blog comments powered by Disqus