Hailing from Canada’s Alberta province, electric bassist Alex Lakusta has been an up-and-comer in Toronto’s jazz scene and he made perhaps his biggest move upward yet with the recent release of his debut album. Lakusta’s fusion jazz offering Transmit Slow is actually credited to “E3 by Alex Lakusta,” with Lakusta writing all the songs and his bass acting as the central element for each of these nine tracks, but within a cooperative effort. E3 is completed by Josh Smiley on keyboards & synthesizers and Keagan Eskritt on drums.
Smiley’s choice of vintage keyboards and synthesizers does a lot to place the music into a 70’s/80’s space, but he also allows a lot of room for both Lakusta and Eskritt to breathe. “Trick Shot” is a blues-imbued jazz song underneath that contemporary pulse, and as the opener sets out the relaxed, slightly spaced-out tone for the whole album.
Lakusta’s bass line riding up high on the register forms the basis for the warm glow of the titular tune “Transmit Slow,” and his solo is all about accentuating the tenderness of the melody. In fact, what I like about Lakusta’s bass is that he knows how to use it as an instrument for harmony, not just holding down the low end nor dropping chops for chops’ sake. He is able to make his presence felt without ever coming down hard with his bass, even when he’s in a lead role.
“All Static/Frequency Lost” is two good soulful riffs fused together, unified by Smiley’s simmering B3 and on the “Frequency Lost” part, he ratchets up the heat. With a nifty descending figure from Lakusta and yet more organ, “Limited Imitations” is straight-up good grooving. The electro “Piston” also rocks the hardest of the bunch — until Smiley electric piano solo chills things out for a stretch — but Eskritt’s driving drums maintains the energy.
To shake things up just a bit, E3 brought in Brad Eaton to lend his effects-laden trumpet to “Battery Brain” and “Flicker.” On the former, a nice and fuzzy bass line is countered by Eaton’s brassy sound, and Lakusta matches the trumpeter’s silky asides with his own thoughtful improvising on the bridge. For the latter song, Lakusta provides a figure for Eaton to ponder and then the song picks up steam with an attractive bridge that’s almost its own tune.
With E3, Alex Lakusta advances his own concept for electric jazz, one that offers something for those looking for the musicianship and but also something for those who crave electrified sonics and interesting chord progressions. Transmit Slow has all that.
Get it now from Bandcamp.
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