JAZZ PROG
Sid Smith rounds up the best releases from prog’s jazzier reaches.
Chemistry is key when it comes to musicians being able to bounce ideas off each other. On Bleed (MoonJune) the debut album from the trio billed as Reuter Motzer Grohowski (Stick Men’s Markus Reuter, Orion Tango’s Tim Motzer and ex-Brand X drummer Kenny Grohowski), the ideas come thick and fast. A fiery truculence underpins these head-on collisions of processed FX-laden guitars, bass and tumultuous rhythms, as though they couldn’t wait to get started. Think King Crimson’s Requiem but minus the passive-aggressive grudge match. Gifted and respected players in their respective fields, together they generate some truly formidable sounds and energy that’s nothing short of phenomenal.