Zubot & Dawson is the playing partnership of
Jesse Zubot and
Steve Dawson, both Canadian musicians based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. "Strang" is what they have been calling their musical style, but this is not a label that has been invented in order to afix a word of some kind to some new musical direction.
Zubot & Dawson come up with quite familiar-sounding material from what has been referred to by some of its practitioners as the acoustic universe. It isn't bluegrass, that's for sure, although many of the same instruments are involved. Stringed instruments are the stars of the show, with
Zubot excelling on fiddle and mandolin and
Dawson covering a wide range of guitars with an emphasis on the resophonic dobro. It's not jazz, either, one reason being that it doesn't really swing, and lacks the searching quality associated with the best jazz. Not all of the material works that well, unfortunately. Some listeners may bail out on the first track, which begins with an awkward display of "funky" licks. Similar efforts by the likes of
Béla Fleck and
Sam Bush have also bombed out, and while it is depressing to feel that these kinds of players just can't play funky music, recordings such as this are forming a trail of evidence that is difficult to ignore. Every one of the dozen pieces combines elements of different musical styles and approaches, not all funk, thankfully, the harmonic structures providing strict marching orders for anyone in the improvising role. Some of these concoctions are quite clever, and the use of brass instruments, hurdy gurdy, and drum samples shows an engaging sense of imagination, stretching into both the musical past and the future. There is no attempt to tear at the seams of any of this fabric, so listeners looking for something really adventurous might be disappointed.
Tractor Parts: Further Adventures in Strang might be just the thing or "thang" for a listener who wants acoustic instrumental music that goes down smoothly, so smoothly, in fact, that one might not even notice when the recording is finished. There is one vocal track, featuring Vancouver singer/songwriter
Veda Hille. ~ Eugene Chadbourne