Track Listing

1. Pep
2. No Name
3. Mirth
4. Go Free
5. Thrive
6. Seven
7. Quick Pay
8. Endless
9. Feckless
10. Dark Money
11. Cumulus
12. Airport Jail
13. Chicago Cool

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #567124 in Music
• Released on: 2009-03-31
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Customer Reviews

Tricolor CD meshes jazz and rock.
Chicago is the music Mecca of the United States. Sure, Austin, Texas and Athens,Georgia are doing quite well for themselves. New York and Los Angeles are where all the money's made. Chicago, however, is churning out the best, new music in the nation. Artists in the Windy City love to push the conventions of genre music, creating sounds and soundscapes that are becoming increasingly hard to label. This is a good thing. "Slint",the grandfathers of "post-rock" (I told you it's hard to label) are from Chicago, as are jazz-benders Tortoise and all of its spin-offs. Daring, experimental record labels Touch & Go, Thrill Jockey, Drag City and Kranky all hail from Chi-town, and that is just the upper crust. Many of this year's greatest albums have been released via Chicago. Smog's "Knock Knock", Sam Prekop's debut solo release and Brokeback's "Field Recordings from the Cook County Water Table" could all appear on end-of-the-year top ten lists. While all of these titles have received deserved attention in nationally distributed music magazines, one Chicago record has gone unnoticed by the national media. Tricolor, a new avant-jazz-rock trio from Chicago, has just made one of the greatest records of 1999. "Mirth+Feckless" is a stunning blend of improvisational jazz and post-rock that defies pigeonholing. Defined as "New Jazz" in Chicago, Tricolor is made up of guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Tatsu Aoki and percussionist David Pavkovic, who also produced "Mirth+Feckless". Parker is famous for his work with Tortoise on the 1998 masterpiece, "T.N.T", where he also played guitar. On "Mirth+Feckless", Parker's guitar sets the band apart from normal jazz trios. His style has a distinct rock edge to it, but his mellow tonality suggests the laid-back mentality of the jazzman. Aoki is an incredible upright bassist who moved to Chicago from Japan when he was 19, and started to experiment with avant-garde jazz. His improvisational expertise is one of "Mirth+Feckless's" greatest attributes. With Parker's guitar taking the lead and Pavkovic setting the foundation, Aoki has room to roam. While it may seem that Aoki is somewhat sandwiched by his band mates, in actuality his role in the background allows for experimental wanderings that work their way subconsciously to the forefront. While Aoki and Parker play intricate roles,Pavkovic is obviously the driving force behind Tricolor. His freeform drumming sets the mood for many of the songs on "Mirth+Feckless". While it serves as the album's foundation, Pavkovic's drumming also takes the main stage frequently throughout the album. Changing with every song, his kit execution shapes the ebb and flow of the songs as much as Parker's spacious guitar expressions. Tricolor's debut release brilliantly blends the improvisational with the full-fledged song. "Pep", the album's first track, is one of the more conservative tracks on the album. Parker's guitar resembles some old Santana tune, with Pavkovic laying down a Latin beat. As the album progresses, however, so does the sound. "Mirth", initially offers a less stable foundation before leaving conformity behind entirely and losing itself in Pavkovic's drum kit conundrums. Parker takes a back seat,picking the perfect times to interject with a subtle riff. "Go Free" does exactly that, completely abandoning any sort of predictable progression. All three musicians go their own way, resulting in one of the best tracks on the album. This unanticipated alteration is a microcosm of "Mirth+Feckless", which is constantly shifting between the familiar and the bizarre, treating the listener to a rollercoaster of rhythm and hues. The loose nature of "Mirth+Feckless" exudes a complex, yet organic feel. While Tortoise thrives on the production talents of John McEntire, Tricolor's sound excels on its own. Pavkovic's guidance behind the board is minimal and gives the album the spontaneity of a live performance. Imagine a tripped down Medeski, Martin & Wood experimenting without the catchy riffs. Tricolor should appeal to adventurous jazz and rock fans alike. Their mixture of rock, jazz and who knows what else is an intoxicating blend that defies most present genres. Fans of Chicago post-rock scene should love it, but there's room for open-minded Phish fans as well. Like it's hometown, Tricolor's "Mirth+Feckless" is sophisticated, groundbreaking and accessible to anyone with passion for music.

Good stuff...
Chicago is so fertile with new music that I think I might puke... why pay rent when you can buy a new cd every day? These guys are more jazzy when compared to other Chicago outfits like isotope 217, Toe, and Tortoise. The drummer and bassist are makin' grooves like all get out and parker always has some cool licks to throw down... Make sure to check out their live album, they stretch out a lot more than this album does.

Tricolor - Mirth & Feckless
Tricolor está formado por tres destacados músicos de Chicago, Jeff Parker, Tatsu Aoki y David Pavkovic, en guitarra, contrabajo y batería, percusión y producción, respectivamente. Sus obras transitan entre formas bastante estructuradas, y otras donde prima la libre improvisación, sumando además del jazz elementos de música latina, rock y minimalismo. Generalmente las composiciones están basadas en repeticiones constantes de un motivo por parte del contrabajo (sin que por esto sus líneas no sean interesantes y variadas) sobre el que expone sus temas e improvisaciones la guitarra, con un fraseo admirable, que lleva a forzar bastante la armonía, y con el cual entra en contrapunto la batería (y algunas ocasionales percusiones como shakers y triángulo), que muchas veces tiene un rol solista, y que es la responsable principal de ir desdibujando y complejizando esta música. Además de esto, grabación es muy limpia y directa; se siente claramente el espíritu de improvisación y permite que surjan los distintos coloridos que buscan cada uno de los instrumentistas. En conclusión, éste es un muy buen disco de jazz, donde Tricolor se atreve a abrir el espectro de influencias y a afrontar la composición y la improvisación con creatividad, sensibilidad e inteligencia.

P.D.: si alguien está interesado en explorar jazz de otras latitudes pero de similares características, recomiendo intentar conseguirse los discos "Piscola Standards" y "Tequila!" del grupo chileno Ángel Parra Trío (dos de cuyos miembros tocaban en el grupo de música popular Los Tres).