Recommended: PHD – “PHD”

There’s a dreamy quality to the music of PHD that’s tough not to fall for.  The self-titled recording from the quintet PHD sends melodies into motion with the idea of a lullaby’s gentle rocking in mind.  Peter Delannoye‘s trombone typically lights the way with the guitars of Thomas Decock and Peter Hertmans rounding out the edges, while the bass and drums of Pol Belardi and Matthias De Waele create a rhythmic susurrance that moves songs along more as undercurrent than driving force.

“Cry No More” and “Evolver” raise the temperature just a bit, but keep closer to the imagery of comforting fireplace than dramatic conflagration.  This is the kind of music that wants to approach tranquility without actually attaining it, preferring to retain the flexibility of bursts of liveliness and unexpected turns within the nuance.  The deep voicing of trombone matches so very nicely with the brightness of guitars, and the effect is made more arresting by the intersecting patterns their paths take them… not quite weaving together and never quite achieving complete separation… a feeling of tight motion within the tiny space of a melody.

This one’s got some serious allure to it.

Your album personnel:  Peter Delannoye (trombone), Peter Hertmans (guitar), Thomas Decock (guitar), Pol Belardi (bass, moog) and Matthias De Waele (drums).

This album is Self-Produced.

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

Jazz from the Brussels, Belgium scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp