Cleveland, Ohio-based jazz trio modQUAD destroy stylistic boundaries on latest album

The inaccurate perception of jazz as being a woefully dated musical style, frozen in time before rock & roll awakened the world, is hard to shake.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based jazz trio modQUAD seem to refer to that misunderstanding with the title of their latest album, It's Not Your Mama's Jazz (or is it?). The group plunges into the often wrongly construed world of improvisational jazz but with a funky vibe that makes them easily accessible to a mainstream crowd. In short, it just might be your mama's jazz; however, there's a contemporary flavor to the material that can reel in the kids.

Brooke Kilpatrick's jumpy, stomping drums on "Fat Tire" gives the track a jet-fueled kick that easily erases any preconceived notions of jazz exclusively being for the mellow-yellow crowd. There is enough energy on "Fat Tire" to light up a city. Similarly, Greg Wascak's bouncy keyboards and Kilpatrick's intense pounding inject "Figure 8" with an exhilarating blast of air.

The musicianship of the threesome - Wascak, Kilpatrick, and bassist Fred Cousin - earns the highest of superlatives. In the tightly wound "Gypsy Tita," Cousin delivers gripping bass lines. Cousin really shines on "Little Ladybug," his bass thumping like a raging heartbeat in this funky sweat session. The trio conjures a soulful groove on "Maybe Some Other Time." The freshness of the material and the spellbinding rhythms of the band tear down any generational divide that jazz may have in these hip-hop times.

Formed in 2005, modQUAD has always been about destroying barriers between musical genres. "modQUAD has a unique sound that draws from a lot of different influences," Cousin explained. "Whether we are talking about funk, Latin, jazz, and fusion, modQUAD does not stop at the idea of ‘style.' The approach is that if it grooves, it is something we want to play. Because of that approach, modQUAD became a fairly versatile band that matches with a lot of bands' styles."

More Information: http://www.modquadmusic.com

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