Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jentsch Group Quartet: Fractured Pop

Jentsch Group Quartet: Fractured Pop

By Jerome Wilson
April 20, 2017
View read count

Chris Jentsch

guitar, electric
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Jentsch is a guitarist who, from the evidence of this recording, enjoys splashing around in the wide pool of music between jazz and rock. His work here goes all the way from grooving hardcore jazz to ambient nature sounds with a lot of fun things going on in between those two poles.

The title track starts out on a folkish acoustic guitar riff joined to

Matt Renzi

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Renzi's climbing tenor sax, establishing an overall style of jazz improvisation married to fluid rock rhythms. "Are You Bye?" is a pure jazz tune, Jentsch and Renzi sliding all over a loose shuffle rhythm laid down by

Jim Whitney

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Jim Whitney and

John Mettam

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">John Mettam. Renzi swings easily here and Jentsch solos with tight, reverberating notes like

Bill Frisell

guitar, electric
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Frisell. "Outside Line" has swirling overdubbed guitars and low pitched tenor leading into a short bass solo. Then the piece shifts into overdriven psychedelic guitar cranking by the leader that sounds like a cross between

Larry Coryell

guitar
1943 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Coryell and

Jerry Garcia

guitar, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Jerry Garcia.

"Old Folks Song" is a gentle mix of acoustic and electric guitars and flute that resembles a spacey 60's folk song while "Meeting At Surratt's" sounds like a processional march from an

Ennio Morricone

composer / conductor
1928 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Ennio Morricone spaghetti western soundtrack with Jentsch's overdubbed guitars buzzing around Renzi's precise lead tenor and a reggae beat added in the middle. "Radio 666" is heavy jazz-rock with the distorted guitar feel of early

King Crimson

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">King Crimson and "Radio Silence" sounds like 70's prog rock with a stately beat and Renzi's saxophone drifting over a rhythm that has a hint of "Whiter Shade Of Pale" about it.

"Old Folks Postlude" is the "your mileage may vary" track, seven and a half minutes of bugs chirping that Jentsch says was inspired by listening to

Brian Eno

synthesizer
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Eno. "Cycle Of Life" starts out with random rattles and peeps too but here some clarinet and sustained guitar notes bubble out and the piece eventually resolves into a loose, floating tango. The frisky "Follow That Cab" ends the CD nodding to

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman as Jentsch and Renzi jog furiously over a dancing, splashy rhythmic groove before launching into individual honking and screaming solos.

Jentsch and Renzi play off each other very well in the ensemble bits and Whitney and Mettam are fine supporting and really excel when they get a bit of space like Mettam's rolling and crashing on "Follow That Cab" and "Outside Line."

There's also an accompanying DVD in this package. I didn't have the equipment to access the alternate takes and remixes listed on the back cover but I did watch a couple of slide show music videos for "Cab" and "666" and a video of the recording session that includes three of the CD tracks plus one new track "summer grasses," a pastoral combination of quiet flute, guitar that goes from placid to screaming and simmering percussion. The whole thing shows Chris Jentsch and his band making excellent music as inventive and varied as any of the big name guitar players around today.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

CD: Fractured Pop; Radio Silence; Are You Bye?; Outside Line; Old Folks Song; Old Folks Postlude; Route 666; Meeting At Surratt's; Imagining the Mirror; Cycle Of Life; Follow That Cab. DVD: Fractured Pop; summer grasses, all that remains of soldiers' dreams; Outside Line; Are You Bye?

Personnel

Chris Jentsch

guitar, electric

Chris Jentsch: guitars, compositions; Matt Renzi: tenor saxophone, clarinet; alto flute; Jim Whitney: double bass; John Mettam: drums.

Album information

Title: Fractured Pop | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Fleur De Son

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Kingdom
< Previous

A Night Walking Through Mirrors
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.