Short Reviews [Revolutionary Snake Ensemble - 2025 - "Serpentine"]

RSE is a jazz group with a difference in that there is no lead instrument able to play a chord, which provides the musicians with plenty of space within which to make their mark. There is also no electric instrumentation, making this a band which in many ways is a throwback as well as playing music which is very modern indeed. Formed by Ken Field (alto saxophone & flute), here we have the group’s fifth album, recorded at Regattabar on June 14th, 2024, and mastered by Ian Beabout, who as well as being a progressive rock musician in his own right is definitely making a name for himself working in jazz. RSE have had a consistent line-up in recent years, with all those involved also playing on 2016’s critically hailed ‘I Want That Sound!’, namely Dave Harris on trombone and tuba, tenor saxophonist Tom Hall, bassist Blake Newman, trumpeter Jerry Sabatini, and drummer Phil Neighbors. Most of the songs are Field originals (although there is a blistering take of Frank Zappa’s “Son of Mr. Green Genes” from his classic ‘Hot Rats’), and they have a New Orleans brass band approach combined with a love of funk and jazz which makes for a great deal of freedom. Apparently, arrangements can change live onstage because Field (sightly) says, “Jazz is an experimental form. If you do the same thing every night, you’re not doing jazz right, in my opinion.” With a rhythm section which provides a solid platform, then four brass musicians out front, here we have a band which manage to sound at times like an old-fashioned big band playing highly scored numbers, and then at others they are moving away at tangents as each musician shows just how much of a master they are at their instruments, pushing in a way that the others respect, sit back, and then join in the fun. It is one of those albums which, for me, to take some time to truly get inside, but the more I listened to this the more I really enjoyed it, and if you like melodic jazz which is timeless yet modern with a very strong groove then this is for you.