The Necks’ ‘Vertigo’ thrives beyond the jazz narrative

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? The Necks are a trio of musicians who have been quietly exploring the outback of improvised jazz for nearly 30 years. Some of their relative obscurity in jazz circles can be attributed to the fact that they are from Australia. But much of it is due to the assertion that they don’t really seem to play jazz. While the group’s instrumentation – piano, bass, drums – certainly lends to the jazz narrative, their music remains unclassifiable. Flowering layers of vibrant drone structures transform into a fully realized sky of sound before deconstructing and reforming.
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? The group’s most recent release Vertigo (Northern Spy Records) continues a pattern of building upon a central tone that anchors an entire recording. On this occasion, Chris Abrahams, Lloyd Swanton, and Tony Buck conjure up a spacecraft surveying an expansive, foreign landscape of shimmering cymbal work, haunting electric piano, strummed piano, and bowed bass. The players are always active without sounding like they are stepping on each other’s toes. The result is beautiful and trippy; utterly captivating and totally immersive. Vertigo may be the most goosebump-inducing 44 minutes you’ll spend listening to a piece of music this year.
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? ★★★★☆
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? The Necks perform at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn. April 2, 2016.
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