Pu Poo Platter: Undercurrent
It’s not easy to find much information about Pu Poo Platter. The name probably derives from a culinary delicacy served up in Hawaii. Their biography reads: “Pu poo platter is a flying saucer stranded in Brooklyn, NY back in 2019. It carried a group of (non-resident) aliens. They feed on music and listen to food.” Much of the small amount of blurb on their new 10-inch EP, Undercurrent, is in Mandarin. Pu Poo Platter is currently based in Shanghai.
What is certain is that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Maybe they should.
This is groove based music, influenced by pop, with a relaxed, hypnotic feel. The tunes are simple, usually based on a simply riff on the keyboard or guitar. Unlike most pop, though, it builds, provides room for some short solos, particularly from tga (yes, that’s his name) on tenor sax. It explores different sonorities; it can provide drama as well as a chill factor.
In Undercurrent, a simply lilting guitar riff is joined by wind instruments that whimper like dogs unhappy to be shut in. The lilting beat grows as the bass makes a brief excursion before the chiming beat returns. Then the guitar lets loose and the woodwind begin to howl. Threesome is more poppy. Simple riffs on guitar and sax soon become subverted by other repetitive motifs and strange percussive interludes. Then the energy explodes.
Springtime is soft and lyrical. A simple tune played over a guitar motif that sounds like a ticking clock is brought to life with a gentle bass riff and then band take flight. A short guitar solo leads into moments of thrashing dissonance before we return to the simplicity of the riff. 3656 starts with a melody that sounds as if it belongs in a French pop song from the 50s. The sax laughs along with it before the guitar brings it all together.
Interesting, unusual, surprising, easy to listen to and even, possibly, addictive. Sample them here.
Discography
Undercurrent; Threesome; Springtime; 3656 (24.10)
Tong Zhou (g); tga (ts); Bolun Deng (b); Leon Wang Olsson (d, pc); Zuho (f). Cashmere Studios, Shanghai, July 2025.
Cashmere Records
Daniel Bennett Group: The Deconstructed Songbook
Listening to Daniel Bennett’s new album, The Deconstructed Songbook, you know you are in good hands. His playing is as ever relaxed, assured and always melodic. Best known as a composer of his own tunes, in this album he plays, with one exception, tunes written by others. These are not so much deconstructed as reinvented, with Bennett’s characteristic gift for melodic invention and joie de vivre.
The interpretations of lesser-known jazz standards do not stray far from the grooves of the originals. More relaxed, perhaps. Less strident. Bennett is not playing with his trio here but with a quintet of like-minded players who support his playing and share his penchant for upbeat lyricism. As one might expect, Wes Montgomery’s Road Song features a lively and compelling solo from the band’s guitarist, Nat Janoff. Horace Silver’s Nica’s Dream is marginally slower than the original, with a more danceable Latin lilt. Bennett really shines here with a solo full of fluid streams of invention. Harold Arlen’s My Shining Hour is more closely arranged, respectful of a show tune idiom, full of excellent solos.
The versions of pop songs by Joni Mitchell and the Beatles are pleasant enough but feel somewhat perfunctory, never departing far from the song tune. Beatrice is more successful. Here we feel Bennett gently pushing the boundaries, not as adventurously as Sam Rivers in 1964, but giving the tune the edge it demands.
It is difficult to imagine that Bennett is capable of playing anything that does not sound easy on the ear. This is not moody jazz that frazzles the brain. Or steamy rhythmic excitement. It’s the kind of jazz that lifts your mood on a rainy day. Beautifully played with a sincerity that carries you with it. A thoroughly enjoyable listen.
Discography
Road Song; The Town Supervisor; Nica’s Dream; Both Sides Now; My Shining Hour; Beatrice; Here, There and Everywhere (34.53)
Bennett (as, f, cl); Koko Bermejo (d); Jason Yeager (p); Janoff (g); Jeff Dingler (elb). Eastside Sound, New York, c.2026.
Manhattan Daylight Media
