The Roller Trio are the latest group of technically awesome young genre-bending firebrands to have emerged from the whirring production line of Leeds’s new-music scene. Like that city’s now famous (and sometimes feared) thrash-improv outfit, trioVD, the Rollers lineup comprises sax, guitar and drums, and they similarly favour a good deal of mesmeric, tightly wound, interlocking-rhythm music. But the group that hip DJ Gilles Peterson has already labelled “the new sound of UK jazz” are less raw and more patiently lyrical than trioVD. At times they even sound content to investigate regular, straight swing without sounding like they want to blast it to pieces. Saxophonist James Mainwaring is a resourceful exponent of John Zornian squealings, growling split-note sounds and almost-romantic tenor ruminations, while guitarist Luke Wynter veers between spacey, echoing ambiance and rock hooks that could have slotted into Jungle Boogie, and drummer Luke Reddin-Williams is flawless when ticking off the intricate twists of the themes, and hog-wild in the free-improv eruptions. Each piece evolves intriguingly – raw noises swap with cool melodies; glowering, Spanish-sounding pieces unleash tenor-sax whirls; blurting stop-start motifs ease in and out of swing grooves – and the trio’s formidable playing and composing power suggest a very bright future.
from http://www.guardian.co.uk
