Detailed Reviews [Kinky Wizzards - 2017 - "Quirky Musings"]

Prolusion. UK band KINKY WIZZARDS, at times also using the name The Kinky Wizzards, is a project that was formed in 2004, originally consisting of the Griffths brothers. Following the release of their debut album "Tasting Toadstools" in 2014 the band was expanded into a trio with the addition of guitarist Elliot. "Quirky Musings" is their most recent production, and was released through UK label White Knight Records in the spring of 2017.

Analysis. Kinky Wizzards describes themselves as a rock jazz instrumental trio, and that description comes across as rather accurate. While not by far being the only band that seeks to join the genres of rock and jazz, Kinky Wizzards are among the bands that appears to operate out from a rock foundation and then expanding into jazz, rather than the opposite, and from what I can hear there's more rock than jazz at hand here too. As such, rock jazz comes across as an appropriate description. We do get the occasional number that hones in on the more jazz-oriented parts of their repertoire of course, Door Dancing Penny Collector can be mentioned as a good example of that, but most of the time this band's approach to the merging of jazz and rock is a bit different. They are fond of hard, tight guitar riffs, and use them in liberal amounts throughout the album. More often than not inside a greater totality featuring multiple alterations in pace and intensity, and fairly often with some quirky instrument maneuvers as a part of the landscape explored. They will typically include one of more jazz elements in one or more sequences, a funky bass-line for instance, or the whole band switching to funky grooves or elegant jazzrock at some point, but hard, firm riffs are defining traits of many of these songs, often opening the song, and then either revisited along the way or applied again at the very end to give the listeners a nice full circle kind of conclusion to the instrumental journey. Some nice and flowing guitar soloing is a part of this totality too, on occasion reminding me ever so slightly of Joe Satriani, and the band also toss in some psychedelic oriented details here and there. At one point showcasing rather nicely just how subtle the differences between jazz and psychedelic actually are.

Conclusion. Kinky Wizzards is one more addition to the list of quality bands exploring one of the many paths inside the spectrum of instrumental progressive rock. In their case operating out from a hard rock foundation and applying jazz and jazzrock elements to it. They do so with a natural ease, and those with an interest in instrumental bands blending elements from those two universes inside a progressive rock context can safely add this band to their list of material that merits a listen.

Progmessor: December 28th, 2017
The Rating Room