Marshall, Dominic J. & Friends: The Triolithic

This is the first I have heard of Dominic J. Marshall, a young British born pianist/composer now residing in Leiden, The Netherlands. He released his first album in the trio format titled The Oneness, followed by Icaros (2012), Spirit Speech (2014) and finally his latest release The Triolithic (2016).

This album covers his jazz side unlike his other moniker DJM Beats, his alter ego of sorts, where he delves into the hip hop universe. I have yet to hear that side of Marshall, only his jazz input beginning with The Triolithic.

The disc opens with the short introduction "Devadatta" incorporating interesting synths and keyboard sounds with some outstanding drumming. My only gripe is the ending fade out which doesn't really work for me. On "Leave's Dance" the piano is crisp and clean and the deep groove well formed as is the complex drum work. Near the end of the track the bass starts to really rip and the music's intensity level increases building ever so slowly. On the more electronic "White Nights" it is more about keyboards than piano with the beat exuding elements of hip hop as well as some lovely Fender Rhodes adding to the melody. Another excellent track is "Free Palestine" beginning with slowly evolving piano indicative of the song's serious title before enveloping the listener in a full beat and equal amounts of keyboards and acoustic piano.

The Triolithic is quite an enrapturing listen adding different elements to further distinguish the artist's sound from typical contemporary jazz.

Track Listing:
1. Devadatta (Intro) (0:50)
2. Leave's Dance (5:56)
3. White Nights (5:06)
4. Free Palestine (5:07)
5. Elephant Man (5:29)
6. Ptah's Vibration (7:13)
7. 80 Campbell Road (6:28)
8. Windermere (5:44)
9. Family Chronicle (5:41)
10. Deku Tree (4:14)
11. Fictions (7:53)
12. Blue Lotus (7:56)

Added: April 30th 2017
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Label's Official Site
Hits: 1478
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]