On his latest mini-album, New Jersey-based multi-instrumentalist Mike Noordzy composes pieces at the crossroads of deconstructed free jazz and vaguely nostalgic blues. You’ll hear vibraphone and vibraslap in equal measure, both at the service of laid-back instrumental pieces that take a few cacophonous detours. Mike Noordzy demonstrates a mastery of balance, as his music is both experimental and catchy. It’s not an easy spot to strike. The four tracks that makeup Sleaze Greaze are relatively simple in form. The listener experiences them as long vamps, over which the musicians vary the melody and build a sonic tapestry gradually becoming more noisy and dissonant. At a few key moments, the harmony turns to chaos and gives way to the free, uninhibited expressiveness typical of avant-garde jazz. There are also some interesting timbral interplays, the result of post-production borrowing from musical collage.
On Sleaze Greaze, we’re always imbued with a slightly vintage atmosphere, as if the recording belonged to another era. The jazz instrumentation and the omnipresence of the vibraphone contribute to this effect. But it’s the use of an analog multi-track recorder to immortalize the performances that confirms this aesthetic. Although short in duration, this mini-album is well-crafted and presents a compendium of accessible experimentation.
