Otis Trio - 74 Club [2014]

1. Montag's Dream
2. Otis Natu
3. Tempestade
4. Sophisticated Junkie
5. Funny Groove
6. Quarta-feira Santa
7. Seisquatro
8. No Oceano
9. DNN

Since the recording of ’74 Club’, Otis Trio’s live stage has become ever smaller, seeing sometimes as many as 6 accompanying musicians complementing the original threesome, with the likes of Andre Calixto on sax and Beto Montag on vibraphone now officially part of the core trio’s live experience.  

The opening track of the album, ‘Montag’s Dream’ is a nearly cinematic piece of aural beauty. The tracks initial dreaminess sustained by Montag’s soft and mesmerizing vibraphone paving a path for the introduction of clarinet and the trumpet while the tenor-sax of Andre Calixto slowly builds its way into the lead role through an inspired and subtle shift.  Reminiscent of the soundtrack to a stranger’s icy cold stare across a dark and smoky night club, the stage is set for an intimate and revealing expose to the Trio’s musical intentions lulling the listener into their world.

While ‘Tempestade’, literally meaning storm in English, is a sumptuous and swinging tune evoking a deliberate interplay of droning versus shrieking horns and plucky vibraphone stabbings married to guitar riffing, the likes ‘Otis Natu’ the titular track from Far Out’s recently released ‘Otis Trio’ 7 inch, servers to further highlight the utterly vibrant intensity of the trio’s musical craftsmanship.

Further on and set at a contagious head nodding pace, ‘Sophisticated Junkie’ sees the band in its sextet form showcasing Lazzarin’s beautifully shredded drum rolls whilst horns and guitars guide the track to a noisy and cacophonous crescendo.

Changing track, ‘DNN’ begins as a free jazz horn brawl in which sax, trumpet and trombone duke it out in a raucous dust up set to the frantic rhythms of Lazzarin and Ciriaco, Gradually giving way to an inspired dialog between the guitar and vibraphone the track settles into an melancholic middles section, a respite only further highlighted by the final eruption as the track ends with the horns fueled grand finale.