photo: Marc Millman
As one of funk-jazz’s top units, Garage A Trois is a supergroup and supergroups aren’t typically full-time concerns. Drummer Stanton Moore, guitarist Charlie Hunter and saxophone player Skerik first came forth with their debut disc Mysteryfunk right before the turn of the millennium. After Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil in 2011, the trio went dark as each pursued countless other musical endeavors. But ten years later, the boys are back.
Calm Down Cologne was recorded in a single session in a single afternoon across the street from a club where they were in the middle of a three-night engagement. Damned near everything they played in that studio was made up on the spot and damned near everything they played then and there is how you hear it on the record.
It’s kind of like they just then decided to form this group and are reveling in the discovery of a newfound chemistry. With Skerik often one-handing the analog keys and Hunter locking down the low-end on his bass/guitar Hybrid Big6, it’s a quintet being played by three people in real time.
Calm Down Cologne opens with “No Zone” and immediately the parts that make up the greater sum become evident: Skerik’s honk, Moore’s-funky “Mother Popcorn” multi-shuffle and Hunter’s wah-wah strut. In true improv spirit, they don’t rush things, letting the spirit come to them. At one point, Skerik is doing sax/keys unison line on his own, amply taking care of the melodic aspects while the other two work on the indestructible groove.
Moore’s cymbal riding sets the tone for “The Epic,” and Hunter lays a slab of growling B3 sounds underneath via his guitar while Skerik devises a lead pattern that wonders around the other guys. He’s also putting metal guitar-like effects on his horn to make the song rock.
“Calm Down Cologne” is the only song here that existed before the three entered the studio that day. It’s joyful jazz, with Skerik going full-on Cannonball deep in that pocket. The whole gang sounds so together and it’s just a shame they shut down the song before the three-minute mark.
“In-A-Pro-Pro” walks in a mid-tempo cadence, almost a ballad by Garage A Trois standards. After Skerik plays notes via both sax and a spaced-out old Moog together, he piles on Mellotron to amp up the psychedelic factor and Hunter in a Hendrix mood uses this opportunity to get in a few dirty licks as well.
Moore uses a loose snare to pull yet another rare rhythm out of his bottomless bag of tricks for “Numinous,“ as Hunter counters with a phat bass line. The boys set a decidedly chill, dub mood for this one and Skerik goes cosmic again when he reaches for his synthesizer.
Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore and Skerik of Garage A Trois are the old veterans of the whole jam-band, funk-jazz scene, but in all the right ways, Calm Down Cologne sounds as if this is their debut album, because it’s got the new-band freshness to it. Garage A Trois is forever young.
Calm Down Cologne is now on sale through all the major outlets, thanks to Royal Potato Family.
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