Jim Black Malamute (usa) at Bray Jazz Festival at Novara Avenue Parochial Hall

Jim Black is a wonder on a basic 5-piece drum-set, his uncanny sense of time, quirky off-beats and pulsating approach to his craft have made him the jazz drummers drummer for many.

Here, Black leads a multinational acoustic-electric quartet that gels to off-kilter frameworks, centered in odd-metered phrasings; scalding rock grooves, progressive rock type blitzes and budding thematic developments.

Icelandic saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson's cozy passages and spooky electronics are the counterpoint to keyboardist Elias Stemeseder’s grizzly effects, all of which ride above Black’s forceful percussive attack....

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Jim Black is a wonder on a basic 5-piece drum-set, his uncanny sense of time, quirky off-beats and pulsating approach to his craft have made him the jazz drummers drummer for many.

Here, Black leads a multinational acoustic-electric quartet that gels to off-kilter frameworks, centered in odd-metered phrasings; scalding rock grooves, progressive rock type blitzes and budding thematic developments.

Icelandic saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson's cozy passages and spooky electronics are the counterpoint to keyboardist Elias Stemeseder’s grizzly effects, all of which ride above Black’s forceful percussive attack.

A remarkably versatile and inventive drummer-composer, Black has been a major player on the alternative music scene in New York for over 20 years. Malamute is based on the idea of mix tapes and playlists, with music changing every few minutes – what he describes as “a short attention span” approach of improvisation and composition.

“Black’s approach to his drums could be compared to a lit match being dropped on a pile of dry papers. The whole kit ignites, shooting sparks and flames in all directions” – Jazz Times

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