It has been argued that music cannot be abstract and funky at the same time -- that one automatically cancels out the other. But thankfully, there are some musicians who refuse to be governed by either/or thinking, and the Seattle-based
Reptet has a lot of fun with avant-garde jazz on
Chicken or Beef?. It is rare that one hears the words "fun" and "avant-garde" in the same sentence, but in fact, fun is an important part of the equation on this early 2008 recording -- which is not to say that
Reptet shies away from the cerebral or the abstract. There is plenty of quirky, left-of-center experimentation on
Chicken or Beef?; this isn't exactly music that one is going to hear alongside
Amy Winehouse or
Kelly Clarkson on a Top 40 station. But at the same time, these inside/outside performances have more playfulness and funkiness -- not to mention humor -- than one typically expects from avant-garde jazz. It should be noted that
Reptet experienced some personnel changes between
Chicken or Beef? and their last studio album
Do This!; on
Chicken or Beef?, drummer John Ewing leads a sextet that also includes trumpeter/flugelhornist Samantha Boshnack, trombonist Nelson Bell, saxophonists Izaak Mills and Chris Credit, and acoustic/electric bassist Tim Carey. But Ewing is clearly the one in the driver's seat -- that was true on
Do This! and is equally true on
Chicken or Beef? -- and this album's healthy balance of abstraction and fun is very much a reflection of Ewing's creative vision. It's a vision that continues to serve Ewing's band well on this engaging CD. ~ Alex Henderson