Artist: Drift The Trio
Released: 18th July, 2013
Label: Independent
It’s not every day that one gets to listen to a jazz album produced in India, so I was pleasantly surprised to get my hands on Nico which is Drift the Trio’s debut album. The trio consists of Reuben Narain on drums, Pranai Gurung on guitars and Sahil Warsi on Double bass.
The thing that is most evident when you start listening to the album is the immense skill that each member has of playing jazz music, thus exhibiting their own musical experiences, be it the groovy bass lines played on a double bass, the intricate jazz drumming or the melodic guitaring. The simplicity in the sound and melody is one of the most attractive things about the album. The sound is so simple and well mixed that it makes it very easy for the listener to directly connect to the musicians playing. The only change in this characteristic sound is towards the end of the song called Envelope where the song almost gets pulled from Jazz into Psychedelia, but the melody of the song itself is so simple that the integrity of the album remains intact.
Another thing that I noticed about the album was the way it progresses with each song and takes the listener on an emotional trip inducing different kinds of feelings in him. While the first half of the album makes the listener experience mixed feelings, from a sense of mystery to a sense of sadness and includes the dark yet catchy Tune Tarantino, The second half of the album is mostly filled with happier and groovier melodies. Ten One and Not So Blue are songs you can instantly connect to and will get you grooving in no time. Elysian Fields, on the other hand, is one song that can make you feel so uneasy that in spite of not wanting to hear it again because of that uneasiness, you still press the re-play button. The album opener Quantime sets the mood for the rest of the album with an uneasy groove and an intricate jazz melody. The only downside to the song is the slightly extra stretched drum sequence in the beginning of the song, but you soon forget that once the melody kicks in.
With instrumental songs you tend to connect the name of the songs to the kind of feelings they evoke in you when you hear those songs, to see if they match. The album definitely wins in this department as a lot of the songs are quite aptly named. Be it Tune Tarantino or my favourite song of the album, Feather’s Flight. Right from the 1st note to the 1st chord change to the time when the rhythm kicks in, you can totally visualise the flight of a feather floating in the light and smooth evening wind.
In a nut shell, the perfect album to listen to on a relaxed Sunday morning with a cup of coffee in your hand and a good pair of headphones over your ears.
