Java CDReview by John McBeath

Rating: Four stars

Over their 20-year existence, this Sydney quartet has attracted a loyal following and this latest recording brings their album total to seven. After the group’s 2010 release Rejavanation which experimented with digital beats, and electro-jazz, this new collection is a return to Java’s more familiar territory of acoustic contemporary jazz. All compositions are by bassist/leader Michael Galeazzi. There are five tracks of the quartet, with tabla virtuoso guest Bobby Singh adding Hindustani-style rhythms on two of these, plus two bonus tracks adding Singh as well as spoken word interplay from solo wordsmith Morganics.

An ultra-slow ballad Maria features an introspective solo bass opening with eastern modality, followed by some lusciously lyrical tenor saxophone from Matthew Ottignon before a break and the tempo lifting as tablas arrive and Greg Coffin embarks on a soul-infused piano solo. Bass, piano and tabla introduce Tiramisu for Ottignon’s reiterative theme statement, another piece with eastern tonality.

Inspired by Radiohead’s The Pyramid Song, the opener entitled The Hill Song, is established by a short duet of bass and Mike Quigley’s drums with the latter coming strongly to the foreground in the closing chorus. Time Binders is a soul-fuelled piece with a heavy beat giving Ottignon the opportunity to provide a lift-off solo of vigorous intensity, followed by an equally developed one from Coffin’s rollicking piano.

Of the two bonus tracks Pick it Up is the livelier with its tabla-assisted rhythmic sparkle. Morganics’s spoken words on both numbers are delivered in a jazz-poetry style which can be thought about as an additional instrument in the ensemble.

Released by Vitamin Records.

For more information on Java

Java are currently completing a tour and their last performance is next Saturday at the Sound Lounge 26 July

John McBeath

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