Search - Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet :: Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet

There's a way weird sensibility happenin here . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 09/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

". . . but one that (I think!) most jazzers and anyone with big ears will be able to connect with. Think voodoo garage jazz: five horns, organ, and drums. But not played in a normal way--too sophisticated for typical garage jazz, too free for Naw'leans brass band music (though probably having its nearest referent here), too greasy-dirty for MMW; all in all, just plain wacky. Leave it to Skerik, the one-name alto-bari sax genius behind such hybrids as Critters Buggin and Garage a Trois, to come up with something both this zany and accessible. Some of it is purely beautiful, though still in an off-kilter way (check out the intro to "Too Many Toys"); some of it is pure musical genius (check out what "Too Many Toys" develops into); all of it is compellingly listenable, humorous, endlessly crerative, and just a lot of fun.For sure out of left field, but still lotsa fun."

Still makes me quiver

Austin F. Smith | Missoula MT | 05/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was lucky to be at the taping of this stellar performance. I had seen Skerik play more than fifty times, but when my friend and I paid our five bucks to go into a small little backroom at the Owl & Thistle in Seattle, I had no idea what was coming. It was as if this was some secret show in some old-time speakeasy where you had to have a password. This was the most memorable Skerik performance I had ever seen. Traditionally jazzy in places, but funkier than Coltrane or Sonny Rollins ever dreamed. Just organ, drums and a large horn section. If you don't know Skerik, or the Seattle jazz scene in general, start with this. Craig Flory, and Joe Doria soar on this disc also."