Liverpool-based Green Tangerines offer up a new live album, following the release of their first album, Tangerines, in June this year. Citing fusion of the 1970s as a primary influence, the five-piece ensemble weave between jazz and funk, adding a contemporary electronic twist.
The opening track, Disco, is, as you might expect, based around a repeated groove from the horn section, after opening with guitar and bass in unison. As the track progresses, fast funk guitar sits behind the horns, propelled by electric bass and crisp drums. However, there is a great complexity to the piece, as the track gives way to a spacious half-time chorus, the guitar switching to wide, echoing chords, saxophone and trumpet taking the melody, and Sam Taylor’s trumpet solo standing out for its rich and dynamic quality.
The next track, Elastic, takes an entirely different approach, introducing a slow and expressive saxophone and marimba phrase, with sparse drums and bass leaving room for the melody to really stand out. The piece is boosted suddenly by shimmering guitar, before a very Snarky Puppy-esque chorus led by Sarah Sands on the saxophone. The Drip is a more stripped back piece, and Jack O’Hanlon provides a dissonant solo, juxtaposing the smooth and expressive melody, and the horn section offer stretched, surging intervals.
The final track, Funk Detective, is another fast piece, with gritty guitar and a staccato riff from the horn section. Again, however, the track changes direction with a complete tempo switch, slowing down and building in intensity before returning to the upbeat groove.
The album is remarkably complex, with musical themes and fragments weaving together and atmospheric shifts throughout. It sounds from the applause as if it was live in front of a very select audience but when things go fully public again Green Tangerines will be an excellent band to catch.
Discography
Disco; Elastic; The Drip; Funk Detective (20.54)
Sarah Sands (ts, v); Sam Taylor (t); Jack O’Hanlon (g); Fran Mills (b); Tom Hudson (d). No location given, 2020.
Self-released
