With the release of 2013‘s double EP The Shape of Doomjazz To Come/Saxophone Giganticus, the renegade Scottish trio Free Nelson Mandoomjazz laid out its musical manifesto in bone-crunching terms and followed up in 2014 with the equally potent Awakening of a Capital. Both recordings showcased the Edinburgh-based musicians Colin Stewart (bass), Paul Archibald (drums) and Rebecca Sneddon (alto sax) in a provocative blend of doom metal and free jazz, influenced principally by such artists as Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Sun Ra, Sonny Rollins, Albert Ayler and Wayne Shorter.
The band’s sound has progressed with each new recording, and now with The Organ Grinder they take it up a couple of notches. While retaining the same intensely throbbing core that is at the heart of Free Nelson Mandoomjazz music, the addition of trumpeter Luc Klein and trombonist Patrick Darley on a few tracks brings new colors and textures to the proceedings. This is a bigger, bolder vision for the group without forsaking its punk-jazz essence.
Recorded at the Reid Hall in Edinburgh, The Organ Grinder presents a new and expanded vision for the sound of the band, owing as much to 11 new compositions as to the new extend lineup and to intrinsic nature of the concert hall it was recorded in, itself famed for enjoying large amounts of reverb.