FlavaEvolution is an unusual and unusually talented jazz band. The four—Frank Newton (saxes, flute, clarinet, arrangements), Mat Schumer (saxes, clarinet), Paul Olesuk (trombone) and David Picchi (double bass, arrangements)—have chosen to play without the common additions of guitar, piano or drums.
As a result, their sound sports an odd kind of swing. Without a consistent four-to-the-bar underpinning, the band's groove is sometimes achieved by implication. Somehow, you can almost hear the absent drummer. It's also rather old-fashioned, bringing to mind early horn-heavy jazz.
FlavaEvolution plays mostly arrangements of jazz compositions by the likes of Duke Ellington—the band's "In A Sentimental Mood" is a quiet but wonderfully intense effort—and Bobby Timmons. The four are all current or former UMass-Amherst music students, and three of them also play regularly as part of the Leah Randazzo Group.
Keep an eye out—the band just began playing out, with gigs at Amherst College and Bishop's Lounge.
