<< In May 2016, guitarist Jeff Parker, double bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Nasheet Waits spent a single day recording in a Pasadena studio. The seven tunes they cut appear on Eastside Romp. Mixed in 2018, it sat on a shelf for four more years. (..) No one except the creators know why it took six long years for this relaxed yet canny set to arrive, but its appearance adds immeasurably to the mystique and inventive creativity of these three musicians. >> Thom Jurek (T.J.)
- Drunkard's Lullaby
️<< "Drunkard's Lullaby" is a group improvisation, laden with guitar effects, knotty bass vamps, and dialogic conversation between snare, hi-hat, and kick drum. Parker's abstracted soloing is saturated in distortion, and it short-circuits, staggering his already jagged lines, creating a barely restrained sense of power. The rhythm section intersects and interlocks in detailed, propulsive conversation as the guitar travels afield, adding more frenetic yet glitchy notes and layers of feedback. >> (T.J.)
- Wait
<< "Wait," the album's longest cut, was composed by the guitarist. It commences as a dirge led by Revis playing vamped chords. He establishes a circular vamp as Parker points at his changes and Waits dances limpidly on his tom-toms in 4/4. The languid lyric line crisscrosses post-bop, Spanish-tinged modalism, and blues. Parker moves between melody and angular improv as his bandmates respond with empathy, highlighting and expanding the reach of his labyrinthine harmonic lines. As a perfect complement, Waits offers a studio version of his oft-performed nugget "Between Nothingness and Infinity." Paraphrasing the title of 1973's live Mahavishnu Orchestra album Between Nothingness & Eternity, he frames a musical narrative that emerges directly out of Parker's deeply moving ballad-esque playing, adding textural airiness, rhythmic spaciousness, and harmonic depth to its melody. >> (T.J.)
- Similar Limits
<< Opener "Similar Limits" is the set's only cover. Composed by the late alto saxophonist Marion Brown, it originally appeared on 1967's Porto Novo. The trio keep the iconic, Monk-esque intro after a brief roll from Waits. Parker and Revis play the staggered melodic intro as Waits rolls, fills, and accents all over the kit. As the bassist expands the tune's harmonic reach, Parker explores the underside with great sensitivity and swing. >> (T.J.)️
Jeff Parker, Eric Revis, Nasheet Waits.
Drunkard's Lullaby, Wait, Similar Limits.
Eastside Romp. Rogue Art 0113 (2022).
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