7th Kind: Press

7^th Kind, Sea Monster, Independent release, Progressive/Jazz, Rating 15 (out of 16)

     There just aren’t enough nonets.  Smaller than a big band, bigger than a combo, nonets  (with the right material and sensitive /intelligent arrangements) can produce an expansive yet still intimate sound.  7^th Kind is a perfect example of this.  On this second album, Sea Monster, the group – which includes three trumpets and two sax players – shows impressive mastery of the capabilities inherent in its construction.

     On “Eternal Regrets of Non-Cowboy,” the horns play luscious unison parts (both legato and staccato), yet also play against each other to create an exciting tension that the “combo” keeps afloat with precision and feeling.  Several songs feature vocals, but in most cases the words and singing are just another musical element and tone color, rather than an interposition of poetry or narrative.  With a couplet like “I’m undergoing chemotherapy/I know what you think you see,” the words are better kept in the background anyway.  Of course, that’s certainly not true of the music, which is uniformly exciting and exceptionally well performed. 

-- Jason M. Rubin