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Album reviews Music

The Swyves

Rating: NNNN


The Swyves’ debut release on the Blocks Recording Club label springs fully formed from the hard bop continuum reimagined by Ornette Coleman but pushes the genre’s fire and passion to a 21st-century level.

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Jay Hay’s reed work is virtuosic yet uncluttered, and his compositions lend themselves to the dynamic, textural shifts at which his bandmates excel. Bassist Aaron Lumley and drummer Dan Gaucher are more than a rhythm section, playing with a fluidity and strength that make the music highly interactive.

Lumley’s dark, thick bass sound punches and saws to great effect, while Gaucher’s drumming flickers from silence to all-encompassing clouds of percussion. Everybody has space to develop an individual style, and by the end we get a clear picture of the stories told by the compositions.

Top track: Westfort

The Swyves play the Central September 26.

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