Still, Small Voice and the Joyful Noise

w/ Rand Lines Trio

Sunday, Nov. 23 @ Farm 255

originally published November 24, 2008

Another respectably sized crowd gathered at Farm 255 this past Sunday evening for a pleasing night of Athens music à gratis (the venue seems to be striving for preeminence as the end-of-the-weekend encore spot.)

Still, Small Voice and the Joyful Noise took the floor first and jumped right into an intricate and compelling little pop jam. Though its style became progressively more countrified as the set continued (through some influence from The Jayhawks perhaps), it remained as buoyant and charming as its opener. The band played consistently and cohesively, with each member contributing something unique to the sound: The electric guitar leads were tasteful and direct, the lady bass distributor displayed some first-rate fingerwalking that almost never failed to hit the one exactly on time, and the singer’s voice was nothing if not honest, clear and inviting. The group shared a generous handful of melodic, textural, original tunes with the audience over a period of about 40 minutes, and by the end of the show, I’m sure they gained some new fans (I can’t be the only one).

After a short set-change operation, Rand Lines Trio was in action (though it started as a quartet featuring a guest saxophonist), and the mood of the room got twisted a little. I mean this in a favorable way, however – this switch from country-pop to modern jazz may skip a beat, but it’s certainly intriguing, and honestly, I don’t think a soul was put off as it was actually a nice change of pace to see a bill mix flavors as such (Doritos fail, you know.)

Rand Lines Trio surprised me by playing a set of original tunes – something many jazz acts avoid – and by doing so competently. There were occasional moments where my attention flagged, but there were also moments of laudable brilliance. I consider myself a fan of jazz (especially Medeski, Martin and Wood and Vorcza, who match the bass/drums/keys/no vocals format of Rand Lines), so I appreciate what these fellas are doing. Their compositions are imaginative and ambitious, and their skills on the instruments allow them to get a bit further inside the point when they vamp/improvise. One of the things I most like about jazz is the feeling of anxiety I get when a group builds up to that space of overlapping complexities and improvisations, and I know that they (and everyone else being moved/paying attention knows that they) know that they have to get this wobbling mass of energy back into a familiar shape in order to clear out the tension just built; It’s a poignant time. Rand Lines treated me to a good build-and-release session toward the end of their set when everyone in the group was just getting a little crazy, especially the drummer; They managed to bring it back around and the pleasure of relief still lingers today, so for that I thank them. If I could make one tweak towards the past for the sake of the future, I’d turn up the bass (upright, not electric, in this case).

Tony Floyd