WorldService Project - Hiding In Plain Sight - most bands billed as “punk-jazz” skimp on the punk, but there’s plenty in evidence here. Even the synths are punkish! (RareNoise Records)
For this latest incarnation of WorldService Project, Morecroft assembled a streamlined group that adeptly navigates the composer’s perilous straits between taut avant-funk discipline and feral improvisatory blowouts. Bassist and vocalist Arthur O’Hara has been a mainstay of the band since 2015, though the remainder is an alchemical admixture of newcomers: saxophonist Ben Powling, drummer/percussionist Luke Reddin-Williams and, on four of the album’s nine tracks, trombonist Kieran McLeod. Together they summon a sound that walks the tightrope between precision avant-funk and free-form exploration, bridging eras between UK punk-jazz breakouts of the 00s (Acoustic Ladyland, the F-IRE Collective) and the modern psych-jazz grooves of The Comet Is Coming and Sons of Kemet.
Dave Morecroft – Keyboards / Vocals Ben Powling – Saxophones Arthur O’Hara – Bass / Vocals Luke Reddin-Williams – Drums / Percussion + Kieran McLeod – Trombone (tracks 2,6,8,9)
