Harbinger is the debut Origin Records release from Extended, one of New Orleans' brightest rising star ensembles. This sophomore outing improves upon the solid foundation set with 2017's eponymous debut, exhibiting a new attitude and focused maturity after three years of development. The 10 original compositions found here are penned equally by all three members of the band, and they each present a unique, deeply contemporary approach to composing for the piano trio setting. Drummer Brad Webb's rock-tinged melodies collide with pianist Oscar Rossignoli's dense nearly-classical harmonic approach, while bassist Matt Booth's impulse towards the avant-garde centers the three, keeping them from sliding too far to any extreme. From this metered approach towards writing and playing, Extended is able to achieve their goal of making creative, highly improvisational music that is as “boxless” as possible -- they aren't trying to do anything other than honestly interpret the unique world of each piece. The beauty and the risk with Extended is that each world can shift from performance to performance, and they've had to learn to take comfort in not knowing how it's all going to go once they step on stage. What they've captured on this recording, then, is three singular musical identities coming together in ego-less, democratic service to collective creation.
Brad Webb's "Connie," written in memory his first tour van, is the autobiographical saga of Webb's ill-fated 2017 drive from New Orleans to Memphis. It begins with the ebullient promise of the open highway and ends, true story, with the engine catching fire on the side of a Mississippi interstate, sending those hopes and dreams up in flame. The elegiac ending section is a statement on loss and love so deep that we wonder if we're really just mourning a motor vehicle.
Matt Booth's "When The Internet Breaks" outlines a dystopian future so bleak that it naturally includes the most atonal, obtuse minutes of the album. A collective improvisation that reeks of free jazz morphs into a rolling odd-meter groove adorned with expressive piano stabs and glissandos of a strangely comforting tenor, as if to say, "maybe the world would be a better place with a broken internet."
The title track, "Harbinger" (Rossignoli), is riddled with tension. The opening groove is so insistent that within seconds, we're on the edge of our seats, waiting to hear what's coming next. When Rossignoli first brought this piece to rehearsal, it was a turning point for the band. Compositionally, it pushed them away from the tune-oriented approach of their first album towards the progressive, explosive sound on display here. Perhaps the strongest track on the album collectively, it is an apt title for a song and an album that, we hope, is a harbinger of the great things to come for this trio.
credits
released August 16, 2019
Produced by Extended
Recorded by Rick Nelson at Ellis Marsalis Center, New Orleans
Assistant Engineer: Daryl Dickerson
Recorded on August 1-2, 2018
Mixed by Rick Nelson at Marigny Studios, New Orleans
Mastered by David Farrell
Photography by Josh Brasted
Cover Design & Layout by John Bishop
Released on Origin Records
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