Yusu Jazz Band • Jumpin’ at Ari

So, my new friends in that local jazz trio which was seeking a pianist have heard me play keys and they have yet to ghost me on Facebook. We’ve yet to actually gig (or rehearse, actually) but I’m taking this as a good sign: It seems I’m still in the band—for now. In an attempt to keep it that way, I’ve been mining my own back catalog of album reviews to remind myself what good comping sounds like. So the six-year endeavour of critiquing music for the ST has been of use to me, even if no one else.

Speaking of which, it’s been a great pleasure to get back to reviews after taking last month off. First under the microscope is Jumpin’ at Ari by the Yusu Jazz Band. This is, as the disc’s cover explains, the first album by the sextet from Thailand. At first, that subtitle felt like a subtle effort to set the bar low. And it’s a trap I nearly fell into: listening to the record while washing the dishes, I was already mulling over how to let the artists down gently without sounding patronizing. Something like, “this six-track expeditionary disc was a decent first effort, and listeners should watch this space yada yada yada…”

But then I really started listening, and realized that this freshman record contains some really solid musicianship, punctuated by moments of brilliance which pricked up my ears and made me rewind the track to hear them again. I’m not clear how long the players have been working together, but the band’s social media only goes back a year and has few followers. That being said, they seem to have a longstanding residency at Bangkok’s Jelly Roll Jazz Club, and are regularly invited to play dance festivals around Asia.

Individually, the players are highly experienced: Bandleader Yuri Kishimoto plays with AJAKO (Asian Jazz Kolective), while teaching sax at Silpakorn University; Lester Esteban is a renowned drummer and drum instructor; Sopon Suwannakit has a doctorate in jazz piano and teaches music at Thailand’s Rangsit University; Rungtham Thammakarn teaches trombone and the Royal Thai Army Band School; bassist Tanarat Chaichana received a jazz scholarship from the University of New Orleans in 2012; and Terdrid Rueangroj is a trumpet-wielding alumnus of the international Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra.

In places, the album does come across a little first-attempt-ish. For instance, Yusu’s take on “Rockin’ in Rhythm” is much slower than most listeners will be used to, giving the impression of a work in progress. But then it segues—a little prematurely perhaps, just because it’s such a great tune—into Ellington’s “Black Beauty.” The two tracks work well side by side: an inspired move, amongst arrangements which are otherwise quite standard.

And it’s not as though the whole record has been slowed down to compensate for any lack of skill: a rendition of “Charleston” is suitably pacey, with Kishimoto (the standout player, for my money) weaving a sinuous sax counterpoint around Rueangroj’s trumpet melody. Suwannakit’s soloing is occasionally slightly halting, as on “Black Beauty,” but he has no such trouble on the rambunctious “Bugle Call Rag.” I’d sure like to hear him play a more expensive-sounding piano than the jangly-sounding Roland keyboard featured here.

Mixing and mastering are mostly very good, with one or two slips that only the most critical listener might pick up on. (On “Charleston,” the last note’s reverb is cut off slightly abruptly, rather than being allowed to ring out in full—we’re talking that level of pedantry, here.) But the instruments are balanced exquisitely, meaning no one is ever lost in the mix. Jumpin’ at Ari is apparently “a celebration of the vibrant swing dance at Jelly Roll Jazz Club,” which is somewhere I’d be very keen to check out. It’s a disc that needs no caveats or apologies—except, perhaps, for not being longer. Get it on Bandcamp for just $5 now.

Jumpin’ at Ari
Yusu Jazz Band
jellyrolljazzclub.bandcamp.com