Short Reviews [Le Rex - 2015 - "Wild Man"]

2015’s ‘Wild Man’ was the third release for Swiss quintet Le Rex, and their first for ground-breaking American label Cuneiform Records. Unusually for most jazz bands, they are heavily dependent on different types of horns and apart from drummer Rico Baumann each of the soloists is a master of brass, so we have alto saxophonist Benedikt Reising, trombonist Andreas Tschopp, tuba player Marc Unternahrer, and primary composer, tenor saxophonist Marc Stucki. “Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five wasn’t a direct influence, but I can see the connection,” says Unternahrer. “You could say there’s an influence from Stevie Wonder and other groove music as well. All of this comes together in this band. We don’t want to copy American jazz. We’re big fans, but we want to make our own European version. We want to show our own roots too.” In some ways this has relationships with the Golden Age, Armstrong being an obvious reference, but in other ways there is more in common with the avant garde and free jazz movement with the tuba often having a much more dynamic and driving role than one would normally imagine. It is obviously heavily scored but there is a dynamic and complex interplay between everyone, with the drums providing the platform, the tuba taking a melodic lead of its own which also links in with the foundation while the other instruments may be soloing, resting, or combining in delicious harmonies. It is an album which somehow becomes more melodic and mainstream the more it is played, as at the beginning it seems very off the wall indeed yet over the time everything makes much more sense, and it is difficult to imagine that it ever seemed anything different to that. Many of those involved have come out of the improv scene and that has certainly assisted in the way they interact and combine with each other. They all play in different combos, but came together in this as a group of friends and there is definitely a warmth and togetherness often missing from this style of music. This is one which jazz aficionados will really enjoy.