Delegation, The: Evergreen (Canceled World)

Gabriel Zucker is an American pianist/composer hailing from New York. His resume is impressive and considering his young age all the more remarkable. He formed his band The Delegation in 2013 which includes the following musicians:

Gabriel Zucker (piano, compositions, lyrics, electronics, voice)
Adam O'Farrill (trumpet)
Eric Trudel (tenor saxophone)
Jacob Teichroew (tenor saxophone, clarinet)
Bryan Qu (tenor saxophone)
Mark Chung (violin)
Ron Lawrence (viola)
Eric Allen (cello)
Artemisz Polonyi (voice)
Lorena del Mar (voice)
Bam Bam Rodriguez (bass)
Gabriel Globus-Hoenich (drums)
David Su (additional electronics)

To say their debut album Evergreen (Canceled World) is a tough nut to crack is an understatement. The songs are a mixture of compositional and improvisational elements that at times can be quite jarring. Sudden bursts of saxophone and trumpet or a barrage of crashing drums is commonplace amidst the frenzied chaos. The sinuous grooves, angular riffs and odd meter changes are a constant and the musicianship, as you might expect, is of high caliber. Whether or not I will listen to this album again is a difficult question. While I appreciate the body of work as a whole and there are melodic morsels scattered about throughout the thirteen tracks, it might not be enough to completely pull me in. That said, the jazzy vocals of Mar and Polonyi are quite pleasant and do offer a few moments of clarity amidst the surrounding chaos and the trumpet and sax occasionally colour the surroundings with melodic passages. And of course the piano work of Zucker is magnificent throughout.

What you get here is an abstract slice of experimental music where the boundaries between musical layers are blurred as the instruments often traverse across the soundscape which will keep even the most seasoned listener of avant-garde music guessing as to what comes next. It will be an interesting journey for those into experimental jazz.

Track Listing:
Disc 1
I. You'll Always Know/I'll Follow You (Resistible I)
II. Headlight Imprecise (Summaries I)
III. In The Audience (Disregard I)
IV. Bare (Evergreen I)
V. Too Resistible/Roof (Resistible II)
VI. Were Alone/Knowledge Clown (Evergreen II

Disc 2
VII. The End
VIII. Recover (Disregard II)
IX. 3.5 Rotations (Evergreen III)
X. Growing Old (Evergreen IV)/Flow Like Wine (Canceled I)
XI. Talk In Undertones (Resistible III)
XII. Yellow Paint (Summaries II)/End Of Time (Canceled II)

Added: February 2nd 2017
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Official Site
Hits: 1537
Language: english

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