Mystery music for vintage telly soaps? 60s b-movie horror shows? Supermarkets and lifts? Vibe playing is, by and large, doomed, isn’t it?
No really, are you serious? Is this sarcastic jazz? Is there some sort of funny ha-ha improvisational vibe joke going on that is whooshing over the listener’s head, because they can’t play vibe-based jazz? Surely there isn’t any other explanation to the fact that a vibe-based band consist of tracks called ‘Checkout’ and ‘The Code’!
Don’t agree? Then consider this: vibes are generally considered as ‘lift hell’ music, yes? You know; the sort of thing that’s playing when you are waiting to get on with something else. They are also considered to be ideal for supermarkets, game shows involving mathematical equations, and foreign-based call centres when they put you on hold. Then is Jim Harts Gemini standing up and saying, ‘Alright, so I play the vibes! So if I were to name a track ‘Checkout’, would you let it go because I’m being ironic?’
(Did you hear that laughter? Can’t you hear that smirk?)
Is it ridiculous to say that maybe Jim Harts Gemini are bold for taking up this stream of expression? For, try as you might to go in with an open mind, you might feel like screaming if you haven’t been already converted into high expressionist, obscurest, purest jazz. Trundling on with mostly incomprehensible sax solos slip-sliding all over the shop, Emergence does nothing to say that jazz is open to the non-jazz community.
When the big and immense sounds of the band are in full swing, and the strings and tentacles are flying every which way, the tangles and mess of jazz is really at its pinnacle. It could be a little bit too much for someone that just wants to avoid heart attack music.
Welcome, my friends, to cardiac jazz.
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