Best of 2017 #26: Miles Okazaki – “Trickster” (Pi Recordings)

The music of Trickster possesses a strange and curious interface, as if a self-replicating alien language perpetually on the verge of translating itself into human words.  The newest album from Miles Okazaki is driven by rhythmic forces that shape the melodies into their ultimate form, and the impression is that among the guitarist’s quartet of drummer Sean Rickman, bassist Anthony Tidd and pianist Craig Taborn, no one person is excluded from the opportunity to impose their will upon that motion.  The result is a passive kind of addiction, where the album’s charismatic personality keeps the ear locked in place until the translation is complete, and what once seemed alien and strange becomes as welcome and familiar as a loved one saying hello.

Music from NYC.

Read more at Bird is the Worm.