Bojan Z Tetraband - Humus

(Universal)

Pianist Bojan Z (short for Zulifkarpasic) has been touring this band as a trio with bassist Ruth Goller and the ubiquitous Sebastian Rochford (of Acoustic Ladyland and many others) on drums, but the addition of New York-based trombonist Josh Roseman adds a new dimension to the group’s dense, groove-based sonic charge. Humus is a perfect example of the pianist’s urge to combine two of his main musical loves, funk and the free jazz approach of Ornette Coleman, into his own distinctive, high-octane blend.

The pianist, born in the former Yugoslavia and now based in Paris, plays his own Xenophone (cannibalised from bits of various other electric keyboards) as well as more conventional piano and Fender Rhodes. They can take it down when required, as on the languorous middle of Rochford’s ‘Empty Shell’, but for the most part this is intense and exhilarating uptempo music, rock-like in its intensity but with the fluid rhythmic motion and textural nuances of jazz.