Suave & Sophisticated

The World-Jazz Raconteurs Of Squat Are Back In Session

originally published February 21, 2007

The Atlanta/ Athens jazz scholars of Squat have little reservation about where their band is headed these days. Almost 15 years of fusing afro-Caribbean rhythms, New Orleans second-line funk, smoky Blue Note jazz and assorted other styles are most definitely coming to fruition. With a solid, stable lineup, a brand-new self-titled album and the packed day planner of a band that does weddings, restaurants and concert halls, the four-member ensemble personifies a term of flattery not heard enough in modern musical contexts: classy.

Class aside, Squat is also a band that has somewhat of a leg up on a genre of music that’s often glossed over by local scenesters and clubgoers. Many music communities in the Southeast, such as Charleston and Savannah, boast an undercurrent of superb jazz players who, by necessity, often must work harder to get noticed than, say, the average Kiss cover band.

Guitarist Trey Wright, bassist-percussionist Carl Lindberg, piano man-saxophonist Tommy Somerville and drummer-percussionist Darren Stanley have, indeed, worked hard to get their name out there and, after swearing off the immediate possibility of long-term touring, they’ve basically become a finely tuned in-house project. The new disc Squat is self-released on the band's own Namasté imprint; it was recorded at Wright’s cozy home studio in Decatur and Squat’s membership is now able to actually make a decent living from what they love doing most without having to take it on the road. It’s several shades away from the long hauls done to play lengthy marathon shows to which the younger version of the band was more accustomed.

“When people talk about a music scene, jazz is usually not something they’re referring to unless you mean somewhere like New York City,” says Wright. “I think, particularly in the South, being a jazz musician is tough. Like in Atlanta, there’s so many amazing musicians that play jazz but there’s also such a real small market for it. Squat has been real lucky, though, as far as having support. It’s a really interesting phenomenon, too, that we’ve turned into a wedding band over the past five or six years. That’s something I never, ever would’ve imagined. We’re fortunate to make good money from that and everybody has something else they do during the week. We all still do various different things to make ends meet, but we’ve reached a point, that for the band to continue, it can’t be our one sole stream of income. If it was, we’d have killed each other a long time ago!”

Simply titled Squat, the ensemble’s sixth disc doesn’t go gangbusters to let you know its agenda. The number of tracks stands at a conservative 10, a dusky street shot of Atlanta’s Majestic Diner graces the darkened cover and a playful sense of eclecticism makes it a very rewarding summation of the band’s abilities. Having a quartet of multi-instrumentalists for Squat’s core means journalists best make sure their backslash key is functioning properly in advance. This also, according to Wright, makes it almost impossible to predict what any tune will sound like with the card players shuffled as opposed the last time it was played.

Easing into an ever-mutating groove with salsa-infused opener “Estrellas,” a longtime setlist fave that recalls the smooth salsa jones of Lindberg’s offshoot band Grogus, the album covers mucho ground in under an hour’s time. There’s the Mose Allison field-holler grit of the old standard “Railroad Worksong,” driven by Sommerville’s penchant for piano-led R&B. “Nepsis” is informed by Wright’s slippery guitar parts and Stanley’s taste for electronica gets a workout on “Whispering Portuguese.” Not only is Squat a perfunctory crash course in different micro-chasms and -cosms of jazz, it’s also the first set of songs that completely zeros in on utilizing the band’s individual components.

“What we really wanted to do was catch all the different flavors we do, but do it in a different fashion,” says Wright of the new album. “The CD draws from a wide range because at this point, 13 years into the band’s history, we all do different things. Like Carl, he heads Grogus - so we get a lot of the Latin elements from there. Tommy, he’s all over the place. He’s into the blues, the country-sounding stuff and even experimental music. Darren, our drummer, is very interested in electronica and Brazilian music. As for myself, I think I bring a more moody style of jazz that’s reflected on stuff like 'Nepsis' and 'Dialogue.' It really is the sound of us coming together as four individuals with unique musical tastes trying to make something new of it.”

Much of Squat’s staying power thus far can likely be attributed to the musically adventurous, independent nature that brought them together in the first place. Plus, when Wright states that the band is a “complete democracy,” you have little trouble believing him. He and his bandmates began as music students learning the ropes from UGA jazz studies professor Steve Dancz and haven't lost the even-keel division of power that guided the initial version of the group. Rather than plunk down cash not yet made on lengthy studio time, this time the guys recorded everything in the home studio - where Wright’s and Somerville’s recent solo discs were also laid down.

From the sound of things, they could just as well have been churning the dance-floor at a sultry cantina or soothing a smoky front room in San Francisco’s Fillmore district. As a counterpart to the new disc, Squat also has a remix project of the songs that utilizes Stanley’s digitally adept talents on the frontburner.

Both Wright and Somerville also recently became proud parents of actual human babies, not just the flashy silver kind with the little hole in the center. Squat’s CD release show at the Melting Point, says Wright, will also be somewhat of a family-style affair as his Trey Wright Trio, Somerville and Lindberg plan to perform individual sets - with a little in-house support of course - before the main event gets underway.

“It’s funny, because we still travel - to play weddings, ironically enough - but traveling on the road, playing to a few people for 50 bucks apiece is just something we’re done with. We’re all just too old,” laughs Wright. “Tommy’s pretty young, so I think his body could take it, but not the rest of us. I said earlier that we’d been real lucky as musicians. I think some of that can be credited to the fact that we’ve always presented ourselves as a real band and nothing more. A lot of jazz bands are looked at more as a vehicle for a main individual who leads a group. We’re not the most talented jazz musicians ever, and we make no pretense at being so, but I think when we buckle down and come together as a group there’s truly something special happening there.”

Mike Andrews

WHO: Squat, Carl Lindberg & Friends, Tommy Somerville, Trey Wright Trio
WHERE: Melting Point
WHEN: Saturday, February 24, 8:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $8.50 (advance), $10 (door)