Label: Endectomorph Records, 2026
Personnel - Kenny Warren: trumpet; Adam Schneit: alto saxophone, clarinet; JP Schlegelmilch: organ; Andrew Dow: electric bass; Nathan Ellman-Bell: drums.
Slow Tiger—the jazz quintet of trumpeter Kenny Warren, saxophonist and clarinetist Adam Schneit, organist JP Schlegelmilch, electric bassist Andrew Dow, and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell—releases its debut album, pointing in many directions with an impeccable flow and assured tones. All its members, with the exception of Ellman-Bell, contribute compositions, filtering influences through the lens of this cohesive collective ensemble. Melodies stick on the ear as the band, whose prior successful collaborations led to the album, leans toward a pop/rock style that easily accommodates jazz-leaning improvisation.
Warren's "Powerpuff Backpack" is a tribute to late trumpeter Ron Miles, revealing traces of folk and funk woven into the framework of pop and psychedelic rock infusions. Occasionally, bands like Inspiral Carpets and Jethro Tull come to mind, and Schneit's clarinet explores with effortless inside/outside agility, followed by Warren, who also brings in "Eleven Six”. Its title comes from the fact that Ellman-Bell plays a cymbal pulsation in eleven while Dow shapes an upbeat six-beat bass figure that provides solid ground for the horn players to interact. They exchange ideas with grip and avant-garde stance, while Schlegelmilch makes the piece soar via hypnotic organ waves and ostinato-leaning textures that add dimension to the music.
Schneit, who was born in Portland, Maine, named "Wharf Street" after the street where he grew up. This is a pop tune permeated with a strong 60's vibe, with the composer and Warren intersecting phrases with insouciant power, precision, but also freedom. They also bring this strategy to Schlegelmilch's time-shifting "Maritime Studies”, which is buttressed by a sluggish beat and cautiously measured unisons. The organist's response to the pandemic's forced pause comes with "Mending the Nets”, a gentle waltzing ballad moved by sizzling brushes, melancholic melody, and church-like organ sustains.
The quintet aligns in relaxed sounds on the title track, "Slow Tiger", a soulful, melodically seductive piece romanticized by warm R&B colors. It contrasts with Dow's "Funhouse", whose groove in nine defines the tempo. With the organ illuminating the scenario with crested ripples of sound, the piece morphs into openly avant-garde territory as the horns criss-cross atop the rhythmic net laced by bass and drums.
Slow Tiger shows potential, and its debut is a tantalizing promise of more albums to come.
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Maritime Studies ► 05 - Eleven in Six ► 07 - Funhouse ► 09 - Slow Tiger