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This Week: Rachel Z re-imagines jazz standards, Particle releases its début, and the Beastie Boys get fresh again

Rachel Z
Everlasting (Tone Center)

Pianist Rachel Z’s most recent trio CD re-imagines jazz’s reliance on so-called standards, those fragments, specifically the choruses, of tunes from the first half of the 20th century. A practice that at one time served in part to connect the audience with familiar material, is now simply a vestige; current audiences are no more likely to recognize a Tin Pan Alley chorus than they are an original composition. As if to redress this disconnect, Everlasting replaces Gershwin, Kern, Porter, et al., with more contemporary and popular material from the Beatles, Seal, Johnny Cash, Rolling Stones, Sting, King Crimson, Steely Dan and Peter Gabriel.

To her credit, Z resists renovating these simple pop tunes into vehicles for bop-like analysis. Instead she favors impressionistic and melodic improvisation over harmonic dissection, giving precedence to sustain rather than crowds of notes. On “Here Comes the Sun,” the CD opener, Z re-conceives the melody with Tyneresque block chords in 6/4 time, switching to 4/4 during her three-chorus solo. “Wild Horses” is transformed into a slower, more plaint ballad, while “Kid Charlemagne” receives a near straight read, retaining also the underlying drug-deal-gone-bad menace of the Steely Dan original (credit to Tony Levin’s electric bass). Peter Gabriel’s “Red Rain” contains a brief solo but, much like the original, centers primarily on embellishments to the otherwise uncomplicated melodic line.

Everlasting is not the first attempt to update the jazz canon (e.g., Herbie Hancock’s 1996 effort The New Standard), nevertheless it delivers an accessible and seemingly effortless reconsideration of well-known tunes.

—Jonathan B. Frey

Particle
Launchpad (Or Music)

After more than three years of relentlessly touring the nation’s club and summer festival scenes—including two separate mind-blowing, all-night performances at Bonnaroo’s fabled late-night tent—Particle’s first full length CD, Launchpad, has finally landed in record stores.

The LA-based quartet’s first studio effort challenges the traditional roles of the piano, guitar, bass, drum line-up with this fusion of rock, electronica and dance. Launchpad is packed with high-energy break-beats, ambitious electric piano lines, shredding guitar licks and seamless transitions that define their eclectic blend of disco, funk and neopsychedelic rock. The band hinges on keyboard player Steve Molitz, whose live set-up includes seven different electric pianos, painting a collage of sound with loop stations and effects against the tight rhythm section of Eric Goulds on bass and drummer Darren Pujalet. The melodic compositions of Molitz, along with guitar player Charlie Hitchcock’s punishing riffs, create a sonic adventure that can only be rivaled by Particle’s live performance. This entirely instrumental album never slows down, and the dramatic peaks and valleys manage to capture even the most commercial 30-second attention spans. Although it may not achieve astronomical commercial success, Launchpad may be a cross-market surprise in a tired music industry searching for the next big thing.

—Nick Corrigan

Beastie Boys
To The 5 Boroughs (Capitol)

A lot has changed in the world over the six years since we last heard from the Beastie Boys, and To The 5 Boroughs is their reaction to the post 9-11 land we live in. That reaction relies on old school rhymes and beats laced with political rants and pop culture references in classic B-Boys style.

5 Boroughs can best be described as a slightly more mature Licensed To Ill without as many guitars. Only slightly more mature because even though the Boys have a lot to say politically, they still know how to cut up and goof off like they did 15 years ago. The braggadocio levels are turned up on “Rhyme The Rhyme Well,” “Triple Trouble,” “Crawlspace” and “3 The Hard Way.” These party raps make it easy to forget these guys are almost 40 years old.

Most everyone knows about their activism against the Chinese oppression of Taiwan and Tibet. 5 Boroughs sets its sights squarely on President Bush. “Right Right Now Now” and “We Got The” are scathing rants against Bush’s foreign policy and calls to their fans to make a change. The most affecting cut on the album, though, is definitely “An Open Letter To NYC,” which is a shout-out/love letter to their home city.

The Beasties have come a long way from their beer-swilling punk rock beginnings nearly 20 years ago. To The 5 Boroughs, while certainly not groundbreaking, is the most accomplished stuff these guys have done since 1989’s Paul’s Boutique, and proves they’re still a relevant voice in hip-hop.

—Josh Staunton

August 12, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 33 © 2004 Metro Pulse