Label: Brainfeeder Released: December 2020
Salami Rose Joe Louis, is an alias assumed by Californian climate scientist turned composer Lindsay Olsen. Having signed with Brainfeeder last year, her most recent release ‘Chapters of Zdenka’ is a compilation of works composed at the same time as recording her previous album ’Zdenka 2080’
For me, she has deducted the gentlest aspects of Radiophonic, Exotica and Jazz Fusion and fused them into something that is dare I say, original - or certainly, the perfect evolution of all of those elements. Many works have utilised analog drum machines such as the legendary CR-78, and the mellifluously infallible Fender Rhodes seems to be present wherever there is even a hint of ‘chill’. Yet to date, I have never heard them combined so satisfyingly as they are on Chapters Of Zdenka.
The voicings and dynamics in the keys are truly otherworldly, so much so that I was far too busy enjoying them to exclaim at their complexity. The extensive use of Bossa Nova presets leaves an indelible mark of taste as single notes oscillate aside utterly modern bass lines punctuating contorted rhythms. The editing and highly evolved structuring shows true understanding of jazz form, past and current.
Take the time to read the lyrics and you will be astounded at their directness. They are sung so gracefully that there is no need for poetic licence. Whilst the themes addressed are sombre in tone the project seems to grin through its tears - a true project of balance that juxtaposes beauty against relative barbarism, lulling the brutality of fact.