Plenty has happened since Cobblestone Jazz released their last album, 23 Seconds, in 2007. The group toured the world virtually non-stop, soaking up inspiration and refining its chops on stage and in the studio alike. Member Mathew Jonson moved from British Columbia to Berlin, setting up a studio headquarters spilling over with analog machines and oddball audio equipment. And longtime friend and fellow traveler Colin de la Plante (aka the Mole), a collaborator with the Cobblestone trio in the live project The Modern Deep Left Quartet, became the official fourth member of Cobblestone Jazz's studio lineup, along with Tyger Dhula and Danuel Tate. Now, in anticipation of Cobblestone Jazz's second album—appropriately enough, titled The Modern Deep Left Quartet—the group surfaces with a teaser 12".
"Chance Dub," which also opens the album, gives us a first taste of the gentler, more subdued sound that came out of last summer's album sessions. In place of the monster riffs and psychedelic freakouts of tracks like "India in Me" and "Dump Truck" is something deeper, smoother, maybe more reflective. A lone chord progression leads the way, brooding but still nimble; around it build swelling synth pads, sub-bass pressure, sprightly bass sequences and of course the high-precision rhythm programming that gives the group such a formidable sense of funk. It's a mellower side of Cobblestone Jazz, but it also displays the power of restraint. Mixed and recorded in real time, like all the band's music, the track is always evolving and always in motion, but it never feels busy. It's simply driving, sensual, properly analog house music, the way it was meant to be.
On the B-side, "Chance," offers a radically different take on the same material. The groove remains the same, but in place of the looped chord changes of "Chance Dub," Danuel Tate takes the lead on Rhodes piano, with a long, rippling solo that gives the tune its easy-going sense of exploration. That's also Danuel behind the vocoder, dropping a haunting vocal melody that sinks deep into the subconscious. It's as deep and as defiantly late-night as Cobblestone Jazz have ever gone. And it's the perfect introduction for the rich, dynamic, all-encompassing album The Modern Deep Left Quartet—the next chapter in the Cobblestone saga.Chance EP is out March 02 2010
