Emerging from the rainy environs of the Pacific Northwest, POSY makes his full length debut on Bastard Jazz with The Garden, a lush, organic soundscape providing all the tranquility and sonic nourishment the title implies. The multi-instrumentalist orchestrated and played most of the parts that comprise the album, using analog gear and a traditional recording studio set-up to cultivate the pervasive warmth and rich sound that characterizes The Garden. And speaking of that title: it’s not just an apt metaphor, but a very real place of tranquility where POSY retreated to get over writer’s block while working on the project, recording voice notes to himself on guitar that he reworked and embellished in the studio. While tapped into the same well of musical depth that contemporary new jazz artists like Alfa Mist and Shabaka Hutchings draw from, the classically trained POSY approaches things from a different angle, painting detailed miniature portraits that avoid the overt spiritual jazz trappings of many of his contemporaries. “I love what Yuseff Dayes and KIEFER are doing,” POSY states, naming a couple peers who’ve inspired him. But while improvisation and a comfortable familiarity with theory may be at the compositional root of the ten tracks here, it’s always in the service to the concise form of songs that say just enough, and nothing more.
