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Mole is a new nu jazz band comprised of four musicians who are already well known on the international jazz scene. Mark Aanderud plays the piano and electric piano while Herman Hecht minds the trap set, David Gilmore provides the guitar pickin and Jorge Molina holds down the bass. Aanderud sites modern jazz artists such as Esbjorn Svensson and Kurt Rosenwinkel as influences, and certainly Svensson’s mixture of post bop and melodic rock is a big influence on the Mole sound. During Gilmore’s jazzier moments he can sound like Wes Montgomery, while his post bop influenced fusion style may remind some of Schofield and Abercrombie, finally his more rockin moments recall the young Larry Coryell. To all this Hecht and Molina provide a variety of modern rhythms including drumnbass, ambient rock and jazzy funk.
The songs on “What is the Meaning?” range from guitar shredding fusion workouts to piano driven indie/progressive rock instrumentals and quiet ambient interludes. Along with their jazz influences, Aanderud also sites modern moody rock groups such as Radiohead and Massive Attack as influences on their sound. All of the musicians on here are great, but possibly the star of the show is David Gilmore and his burning, yet beautifully understated guitar solos. He also displays tricky syncopated rhythmic skills that he has built up through his work with Steve Coleman.
For those who seek an excellent merger of nu jazz ambience with classic fusion energy, Mole delivers both while always sounding both contemporary and original.