Shamokin!!!

They Say...

Review by Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide

Bassist Moppa Elliot is clearly fond of Ornette Coleman's music, and this second quartet date with his unctuously titled band Most Other People Do the Killing, or MOPDTK for short, expands on that influence. Free swing and funk with a piquant edge, a taste for harmelodics, ragged rhythm, and approximate note phrases identify their sound. Trumpeter Peter Evans and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon, two notable rising star jazz improvisers, create the tension-and-release elements that spark this music, backed by Elliott's playful and bold basslines and the loose, craggy drumming of Kevin Shea. Except for "covers" of the standards "Lover" (admittedly disconnected) and "A Night in Tunisia" (rushed very fast), the rest are originals that command attention and hold it. The sonic image of a Don Cherry-Ornette Coleman front line is firmly stamped on the opener "Handsome Eddy" and never lets go. There's an innate humor to the music, as a wildly scattered phraseology simulates the stance of Raymond Scott during "The Hop Bottom Hop," with Irabagon's acerbic sax and Elliott's slap bass à la Slam Stewart swelling the piece until it bursts. The band is enamored of hard bop, but is not its slave as is most prevalent during "Shamokin," while a more Brazilian and tango shade tints "Dunkelbergers." "Evans City" is a funky blues showing off the ribald original sound Evans extracts from his horn, while "Baden" is amazingly wry, yet refined. A drum solo precedes "Tunisia" and reveals Shea's purposefully sloppy technique, far from neat and clean, but somehow incorporating the rock-ish power of John Bonham, the powerhouse modernity of Elvin Jones, and the unabashed or unfettered carelessness of Han Bennink. Shea is at once the glue and the detonator. The album cover, an adaptation of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers' classic Blue Note LP A Night in Tunisia, is tip-off enough that this offering serves up a modern jazz roller coaster ride, filled with sufficient campy or smart twists and turns to appeal to any who enjoys the modern jazz sound of the '60s made new yet again. And pay particular attention to Evans -- he's a true original deserving wider recognition.