Recommended: Odd Draft – “Odd Draft”

There’s an appealing balance of cinematic melodicism of new-school jazz and an older blues-based inventiveness from this self-titled release from the quartet Odd Draft.  The mix of 1970s-style jazz and that of the present day adds some nice textures from approach and perspective, where melodies can take a sharp angle or wide curve, and the tempos are already situated on a shifting foundation that anticipates this sort of creative drift.  Adding further intrigue is how the equation flips when a tune switches between upbeat and slower tempos.  A brisk tune like “Chow Long” is cut from the cloth of Clifford Jordan’s Magic Triangle, whereas a track “Péplouze” sings with the heartbreak of a classic ballad.  The oddball “Être Bill” tries to shake its form as it speaks in hushed whispers, which makes for a nice contrast with “Two Into” and the way it changes its mind between taking the form of a Parisian jazz reverie on peacefulness and random introverted musings.  It’s why Odd Draft strikes the right amount of casual cool and drawn intensity.

Plenty to enjoy on this under-the-radar session.

Your album personnel:  Gilles Varon (tenor sax), Jacques Graindorge (piano), Clémence Gaudin (double bass) and Frédérik Bilhaut (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Available at:  Bandcamp