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Led Bib

Arboretum

SLAMCD 261

Arboretum begins with a piece (appropriately named ‘Clatter’) that nails Led Bib’s stylistic colours firmly to the mast: a resounding crash of squealing saxophones, clanking Fender Rhodes and pounding drums is followed by a funky riff.

Thereafter, the music played by drummer Mark Holub’s band moves easily and naturally between these approaches, sour horn theme statements ushering in driving riffs that suddenly give way to sprawling, clattering free-for-alls; rubato introductions slowly coalescing into bustling, hard-swinging pieces spearheaded by barbed-wire-abrasive saxophone solos, howling electric piano, spurting bass and tumbling drums.

The bristling energy driving the ten tracks on this no-holds-barred album is occasionally reminiscent of Bobby Previte’s more rock-based projects, but Led Bib – despite their nods to Erik Satie, who, eccentric that he was, would surely have approved of their vigorously irreverent versions of his ‘Gymnopédie’ and ‘Gnossienne’ material, today inappropriately celebrated as wistful advert fodder – are more free-jazz-oriented than Previte, and their viscerally powerful music should appeal to a wide constituency: fans of hard-edged, punky rock, free-jazz listeners, funk aficionados.

Their gig (Tuesday 10 January), on the evidence of this immediately accessible album, promises to be an affair to remember.