PETER ROM TRIO

Says Who?!

2006-01-02

Four words to describe this album: Medeski, Martin & Weird. Do we have a J-Jam Band category? Maybe we should. That is to say that this Austrian threesome has the same funky chops as MMW, but tends to get a little more out there, a la Phish. As the jacket art suggests, Rom likes to experiment with the sounds his guitar produces — not just through his artful noodling, but also through the array of digital signal processors strewn about the album cover. That said, he is more of a jazz guitarist than an electronic gearhead, so the effects don’t cover up the quality of his playing. Although this is jazz more than it is anything else, this disc tends to lean further toward Primus than it does Primeau or Parker. Nonetheless, these 11 live-recorded tracks should satisfy both the adventurous jazzophile and the programmer who wishes that WYCE’s motto was “Folk, Blues, Rock, Worldbeat and, once in a great while, Jazz.” ::arthur longrapids::