The Press Room presents: Nihco Gallo Trio

Description

The Nihco Gallo Trio embraces the "sampling mentality" that has characterized much of jazz since the rise of hip-hop music. Trying to push beyond playing the jazz standards, the vibraphonist's energetic group cross-fades between recognizable tunes from the realms of jazz, soul, classical, and modern beat music, often in quick and unpredictable succession. The whole experience relies heavily on the taste of local bassist Scott Kiefner (Vinx, Sojoy, Soggy Po Boys), and Boston drummer Zak King (Epicenter, Freese Brothers Big Band), both of whom have their roots not only in jazz, but in metal and hip-hop. Kiefner's lines are propulsive and groovy, deep in the pocket but imbued with an unshakable modern jazz sensibility. King's beats are searingly funky in any genre and his solos betray a vast breadth of idiomatic vocabulary. Gallo, who is also a drummer, leads a group that is powered by hard-hitting beats in a stream-of-consciousness kind of way, featuring improvised metric modulations and time changes beneath improvisation that tastes slightly of free jazz. With arrangements of tunes by Ornette Coleman, Stevie Wonder, Mingus, Holst, and Kanye, every moment's a surprise.