This vinyl re-release of the 2005 The Way of the Animal Powers finds Zu (Massimo Pupillo on bass, Jacopo Battaglia on drums, and Luca T Mai on saxophone) teamed up with Fred Longberg-Holm on cello. Longberg-Holm brings extra scintillation to a group known for aggressive and intricate punk-inflected jazz.
Over the course of this brief twenty-five-minute album, the quartet swaggers and swings through a series of tight compositions. Zu’s ability to play in close syncopation creates a taut and expressive rhythmical beast. The music alternately lumbers and stops on a dime, gathering momentum both through force of will and intricate restraint. Nothing feels wasted in this sharp-edged slab of jazz. This is an album that growls.
Chris Kennedy is an independent filmmaker, film programmer and writer based out of Toronto. He has programmed for the Images Festival, the Pleasure Dome screening collective, the Free Screen at TIFF Bell Lightbox and he co-founded the Early Monthly Segments film salon. His short experimental films have screened at over one hundred film festivals. He holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. More information on his work is available at www.theworldviewed.com