To say that Montreal instrumental trio Small World Project is different is a vast understatement.
Trying to categorize them could be misleading so I’ll just start by saying that they’re bold and experimental.
Their music comes out of left field and the three-piece are committed musical explorers.
They smoothly blend jazz, cabaret music and old European folk sounds on Cubana Transe, an in-your-face instrumental romp through Gypsy melodies and alien drumming.
The sound is startling and the group is stretching harmonic limits in their vision quest for new sounds.
The ambiance of the small bodied acoustic instruments and the warmth of the trio’s interplay keeps the music earthy, even as they bring on the exotica.
The band, (Sebastian Dufour – stringed instruments, vocals; Frederic Samson – double bass, vocals; Patrick Graham – percussion, vocals) look beyond songs as static pieces of structure.
In addition to their harmonic adventurism, they’re keen improvisers whose lively sense of space translates into jam music and sound track soundscapes (Shawshank).
The trio does eccentric and non-traditional takes on cover songs, and Ennio Morricone, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley are given a makeover.
The transformation of their songs (Tarantella/ Farewell to Cheyenne, Fire and I Shot the Sherriff) is radical. It’s akin to how Patti Smith treated Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.
The Small World Project indulges in cheerful deconstruction; fearlessly using the songs as springboards for entirely unique interpretations.
