Best of 2018 #8: Roller Trio – “New Devices”

There are a very great many things to adore about the 2018 release from Roller Trio, but the most significant development is best viewed from the context of the band’s timeline.  As I stated about this exciting electro-acoustic project when I first wrote about it for The Bandcamp Daily, “The mad experiments of the Roller Trio’s previous two recordings manifested a new kind of Frankenstein’s monster.”  Roller Trio’s previous recordings were warmly received by this site, and each were enjoyable in their own way, but looking back on them now as stages that led up to the magnificent New Devices, there’s a certain post-excitement about the earlier works because of the hints and signs of what was yet to come.  When I included this album in my Best Jazz Albums of 2018 column for The Bandcamp Daily, I believe I summed things up best when I concluded, “This is the sound of a band coming into their own.”  It’s one of the most rewarding benefits of following the creative trajectory of an artist, to experience that growth in their work and the achievement of new plateaus as we go about living our own lives, and manifesting our own individual growth and achievements.  This is how music becomes intertwined with our timelines, and becomes personal to us in the most ineffable ways.  It is how art becomes timeless.

Released on Edition Records.

Music from Leeds, UK.

I wrote about this album for Bird is the Worm.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon