Reptet's Chicken or Beef? - The Reviews

[Johnny E]

jazz.com

Reptet: Chicken or Beef?

Musicians:
John Ewing (drums, percussion), Clinton Fearon (vocals), Samantha Boshnack (trumpet, flugelhorn), Nelson Bell (trombone, tuba), Izaak Mills, Christopher Credit (reeds), Paris Hurley (violin), Eyvind Kang (viola), Lori Goldston (cello), Tim Carey (bass), Lalo Bello (percussion)

Recorded: Seattle, WA, January 2008

Rating: 94/100 (learn more)
What are they putting in the coffee up in Seattle? Chicken or Beef? is one of the craziest jazz albums I've ever heard. In 2006, Earshot Jazz gave the Reptet its award for "Best Outside Jazz Group," and this 2008 release is certainly "outside jazz." Half of the tunes are outside any genre I am familiar with. They are part jazz, part classical, part serious, part parody, part free jazz, part virtuosity – and wholly entertaining. Think Frank Zappa at his wackiest getting together with Stan Kenton to beat up Spike Jones. The album's first half is actually the band playing as straight ahead as you will get from this aggregation. After that, the vocals and craziness begin. The album's title tune and most unusual cut doesn’t come close to jazz, so I cannot review it here. But it's impressively bizarre stuff.

Chicken or Beef? opens with the horn-heavy, tightly played chaos of "Danger Notes." The rhythm is jam-band in nature. The solos tend to lean toward the free school. What little texture exists is reserved for the bassist and other string players. But no sooner have I written those words than the band is off on another exploration, and the open spaces are gone. The tune's midsection is more thoughtful. It soon gives way to a heavily syncopated…and then…next… I give up! There are too many stylistic changes to keep track of. But, whoa! It ends just like that. Cool.

Like the other first-half tunes, "Danger Notes" is a well-played trick to totally unprepare you for the lovable nonsense that will be slapping you across the face in a few minutes. I doubt that even my warning will soften the blow. Need a little wakeup in life? Put this disc in your player.

Reviewer: Walter Kolosky

http://www.jazz.com/music/2008/6/21/reptet-danger-notes"]Source

[Johnny E]

All Music Guide

Chicken or Beef? - REPTET
Review by Alex Henderson

It has been argued that music cannot be abstract and funky at the same time—that one automatically cancels out the other. But thankfully, there are some musicians who refuse to be governed by either/or thinking, and the Seattle-based Reptet has a lot of fun with avant-garde jazz on Chicken or Beef?. It is rare that one hears the words "fun" and "avant-garde" in the same sentence, but in fact, fun is an important part of the equation on this early 2008 recording—which is not to say that Reptet shies away from the cerebral or the abstract. There is plenty of quirky, left-of-center experimentation on Chicken or Beef?; this isn't exactly music that one is going to hear alongside Amy Winehouse or Kelly Clarkson on a Top 40 station. But at the same time, these inside/outside performances have more playfulness and funkiness—not to mention humor—than one typically expects from avant-garde jazz. It should be noted that Reptet experienced some personnel changes between Chicken or Beef? and their last studio album Do This!; on Chicken or Beef?, drummer John Ewing leads a sextet that also includes trumpeter/flugelhornist Samantha Boshnack, trombonist Nelson Bell, saxophonists Izaak Mills and Chris Credit, and acoustic/electric bassist Tim Carey. But Ewing is clearly the one in the driver's seat—that was true on Do This! and is equally true on Chicken or Beef?—and this album's healthy balance of abstraction and fun is very much a reflection of Ewing's creative vision. It's a vision that continues to serve Ewing's band well on this engaging CD.

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[Johnny E]

Sonic Curiosity

REPTET: Chicken or Beef? (CD on Monktail Records)

This CD from 2008 features 60 minutes of jubilant jazz.

Reptet is: John Ewing (on drums, percussion bull moose call, and vocals), Samantha Boshnack (on trumpet, flugelhorn, slide trumpet, and vocals), Chris Credit (on saxophones and vocals), Tim Carey (on upright and electric bass, baritone guitar, and vocals), Nelson Bell (on trombone, tuba, euphonium, conch shell, and vocals), and Izaak Mills (on saxophone, clarinet, flute, percussion, bull moose call, and vocals) with guests: Lalo Bello (on percussion), Mark Oi (on guitar), Tobi Stone (on clarinet), Clinton Fearon (on frog and vocals), Eyvind Kang (on viola), Lori Goldston (on cello), Paris Hurley (on violin), Maeg O’Donoghue-Williams, Sari Breznau, Kevin Hinshaw, and Scott Adams (all on additional vocals).

Blaring horns and nimble percussion form the outspoken nucleus of this lively music. Many other instruments contribute to the gestalt, though, producing a full palate of sound.

Among the numerous brass and woodwinds, it is the saxophone that holds bouncy sway with strident chords and emphatically piercing notes. Although not entirely devoid of studious melancholy, the horns generally convey a joyous sentiment. Their blaring definition is rich with a sensuous command that becomes quite pronounced at times. The utterances of trumpet, flugelhorn, and clarinet combine tastefully to augment the sax.

The percussion is agile and crisp. While maintaining steadfast propulsion, the rhythms often divert into complex tempos that fit superbly with the rumbling basslines.

Strings provide a subtle undercurrent of classical temperament that is frequently audible peeking through the intentional cracks in the mix. Plucked upright bass establishes instances of cerebral sobriety that ground the otherwise soaring sense of sonic delight.

These compositions display an exultant quality that can be remarkably infectious. Combining elements of swing and cafe jazz, the tuneage is rollicking and rewarding.

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[Johnny E]

The Arts Journal
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Reptet, Chicken Or Beef? (Monktail)
The method in their madness is sometimes concealed in over-the-top shenanigans, but there's plenty of artistry, discipline and technique in this second CD by the Seattle sextet. They meld a wild combination of musical ingredients into tight arrangements that in some of their more structured moments recall the combo writing of Rod Levitt, in others jump bands of the early forties and, in many, nothing but Reptet.

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[Scott Dolan]

Things must be slow at the O. Been a lot of stragglers here lately.

[Johnny E]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

Things must be slow at the O. Been a lot of stragglers here lately.

I don't post here very often but I have been a member for two years and read the insightful commentary often. Just thought I'd post a few of the early reviews for Reptet's newest recording because I know I have some friends here left over from the Bluenote Board days that don't often visit the Organissimo board (you are one of them) who might be interested.

Hope you're well Scott. Go to www.reptet.com and www.myspace.com/reptet if you wanna hear some samples.

[Johnny E]

Reptet – Chicken or Beef?
Monktail Records MCMC8

Reptet’s new CD poses the age-old airplane- and wedding-reception dining question: Chicken or Beef? As listeners ponder this question, Reptet employs various antics that include shouts, grunts, group sing-alongs, and a 1980s hair rock guitar solo. And, oh yeah, there’s some good playing and writing too.

Chicken or Beef? Is full of oddball humor and mixed genres. I love the heavy dance-like compound meter framed by collective shouts on “Reptet Score!” The title track, the album’s fifth, features a clarinet solo over a percussion groove followed by chants of “chicken or beef?” The next song, “That’s Chicken or Beef,” is straight up 60’s Jamaican ska that’s cut short by the group singing “that’s chicken or beef,” And later on the multi-sectional “Fish Market,” Reptet rhetorically asks: “why don’t you go to the fish market and get a fillet tonight?” and in doing so, confuses the matter even further.

Cynics beware: Chicken or Beef? Isn’t just wacky shtick from players who aren’t good or serious enough to play “real jazz,” as it takes some serious chops to pull this stuff off. The group’s involved compositions and arrangements require each player to negotiate tricky rhythms and meters as well as tempo and groove changes – often several times within the same song. Reptet handles this with ease.

The album features a lot of ensemble writing, and each musician’s doubling abilities (each of Reptet’s six members are credited with no less than four instruments, not including vocals or bull moose calls) provide many orchestration possibilities. Add the thirteen guest musicians to the fray and the result is an adventurous album with a wide sonic palette and range of styles. Whether or not you enjoy tongue-in-cheek music or are vegetarian shouldn’t matter, because one thing is for sure: Chicken or Beef? is good, clean, irreverent fun. Hey!

-Review by Chris Robinson (August 08' issue of earshot Jazz Magazine)

[shrugs]

that last poster must have went with the fish.

Anyway,
are y'all planning a series of food themes a la Karl Denson?

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by Johnny E

Hope you're well Scott. Go to www.reptet.com and www.myspace.com/reptet if you wanna hear some samples.

Same here, brother.

I have already heard a few of your pieces. They all sounded very good, IMO.

Hope things are motoring along for the group!