“Cross
Can’s rhythm section with Roland Kirk, Motown and the Third Stream
and you’ll get somewhere near where The NJE are coming from…”
Like
most band names, it came about by accident – trying to explain the
sound of three musicians playing horn-led instrumentals from the
rock/pop side of the tracks, the closest description was a ‘near-jazz
experience’. Swiftly abbreviated to The
NJE, this
Near Jazz Experience was formed by multi-instrumentalist Terry
Edwards,
bassist Mark
Bedford
and drummer Simon
Charterton
in the spring of 2010.
Look no further than the Hendrix cover, 'Voodoo Child' for a way into their world. The familiar reinvented and taken to a parallel world. Born out of a love of improvised music which was accessible (funky beats and grooves) yet experimental enough to break the mould of middle-of-the-road jamming, the trio built up a following at a residency in the heart of London’s East End, headlining the monthly Sartorial Records music nights.
Look no further than the Hendrix cover, 'Voodoo Child' for a way into their world. The familiar reinvented and taken to a parallel world. Born out of a love of improvised music which was accessible (funky beats and grooves) yet experimental enough to break the mould of middle-of-the-road jamming, the trio built up a following at a residency in the heart of London’s East End, headlining the monthly Sartorial Records music nights.
Edwards
and Charterton cut their musical teeth with Norwich punk-funk band
The
Higsons,
after which Terry formed Butterfield
8 with
Madness
bassman Mark Bedford. The
NJE
draws the three together in an outfit reminiscent of The Bays in that
they don’t rehearse, but perform music intuitively, with an ear to
accessible beats and tonality with Edwards’ melodic flights of
fancy dancing over the top.
Afloat
came about after several recording sessions, both in concert and in
the studio, and completed by the band using harsh editing techniques
overseen by Hot
Chip frontman
Alexis
Taylor
at the mixdown stage. The album’s seven tracks are complimented by
the addition of four previously released download/vinyl tracks for
your listening and dancing pleasure!
Mainstays of the NJE sound are Edwards’ double-sax technique - playing alto & tenor simultaneously, Charterton’s polyrhythmic funk patterns and Bedford’s fluid but grounding basslines. The whole is a near-jazz experience - just what you’d expect from musicians who have worked with people as far-flung as PJ Harvey, Jerry Dammers, Tom Waits, Spiritualized, Robert Wyatt, Alex Harvey, Gallon Drunk, Big Star, St Vincent and Ian Dury. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg... Pre-order Afloat here.
Mainstays of the NJE sound are Edwards’ double-sax technique - playing alto & tenor simultaneously, Charterton’s polyrhythmic funk patterns and Bedford’s fluid but grounding basslines. The whole is a near-jazz experience - just what you’d expect from musicians who have worked with people as far-flung as PJ Harvey, Jerry Dammers, Tom Waits, Spiritualized, Robert Wyatt, Alex Harvey, Gallon Drunk, Big Star, St Vincent and Ian Dury. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg... Pre-order Afloat here.
"The NJE.... thanks to their innate grasp of the jazz impulse and flagrant disregard for musical boxes, often chart genuinely new ground." Prog
"First class musicians delivering first class music. What’s not to love?" Jazz In Europe
"Adventurous, inventive and genre-straddling music..." RnR
Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/The_NJE
