Tiger Hatchery is a rowdy bunch of thrash jazzers from Chicago. Comprised of Mike Forbes (sax), Andrew Scott Young (bass) and Ben Billington (drums), the three got together in ’09, made nine cassettes, a couple of 7″ singles and a one-sided LP. But recently, they signed up with the record label synonymous with “unhinged,” ESP-Disk, and made their first, official CD that will be dubbed Sun Worship.
Here’s a little taste of Sun Worship ahead of its release, a ruthless number with the fury of heavy metal and the chaos of a street riot. “Chieftain” has no windup leading up to the release; it detonates at the moment the song begins. Forbes’ intense blowing approaches Peter Brötzmann territory in its violence, but Young’s bass soon asserts itself, a nasty noise that’s just plain menacing, and gets more so has he solos with increasing agitation.
The band shows it’s not content to merely play 100 mph to make an impact; they regroup in the middle of the song making chirps, scratches and other odd, diffused tonalities, as Forbes and Young sound as though they’re mimicking a conversation between birds. Powered by Billington’s drum-kit murder, Forbes revs up and when Young jumps in, they’re back to the dense commotion they were making at the start.
“Chieftain” is primal jazz therapy that signals to the world they’re about to unleash an album worthy of the ESP-Disk’s legacy of unbound, anti-commercial music.
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Sun Worship drops on November 19, by ESP-Disk. Visit Tiger Hatchery’s website for more info.
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