Jazz to the sound of the Underground
A few weeks ago, I was desperate for a fix. A fix of good music, great literature or brilliant cinema. The place to be for any of that here in Malaga is the FNAC and so I rolled up the escalator already feeling that unbearable excitement in my stomach, ready to find some treasures, ready for the post orgasmic chill. All these feelings were multiplied when I walked into mellow rhythms of Jazz and a flute. I skipped the Beatniks, the Floyd and even the Lynch section and followed the sound of music. I was half expecting a crazy white haired man hopping from one foot to another, grimacing wildly behind the comforts of his flute, that’s how familiar and ameliorating the sound. Everything seemed so out of place: here was this type of music that seems totally unfitting and lost on our generation, the type of tunes you listen to in a dark, smoky environment, decorated with dark reds and walnut wood.
The source: Custom Radio . Four Andalusian boys straight from Silicon Valley Marbella, have taken it upon themselves to bring underground jazz funk back to the public and reeducate the youngsters currently poisoned by the likes of Kesha or lazy “ntz-ntz-ntz-music” (it pains me to call this “music”).
“There is a reign, far from this material world, that if you allow yourself to go deep into it, starts fanning out and soaks you of such richness you get so drunk on it that at some point it separates itself from industrial products” . I’m talking about Jazz, a style that doesn’t only cover Swing, Dixie and Bebop. These days it is mixed with all kinds of music from every root, so much so it it can no longer be classified. Latin Jazz, Flamenco, Bossa, they are all common factors that capture the real human essence. It’s this essence, Custom Radio wants relay to its audience and “blaze a trail on the music scene,” according to Emilio Marquez , the bass player.
Alejandro (Guitar), Adrian (Flute and Transverse flute), Jorge (Drums) and Emilio (Bass and Electric guitar) are all based in the Marbella area and have been discussing this project for several years; however the band didn’t form until the summer 2010 – almost unimaginable, the formation seems so comfortable and flawless on stage. This can be put down to mutual interest as well as an understanding for the music they are playing.
“We certainly coincide on several music tendencies, but what really made us evolve faster towards the musical soundness and maturity we enjoy today at Custom Radio, was that we gave ourselves the liberty to express ourselves on the instruments, and this resulted in a very personal style, with no pressures, no attachments… everything flowed at the time of composing and kept boiling when playing.”
In a city like New York or even London, we almost expect people of various generations to enjoy the likes of underground jazz and these cities would seem to house all the right venues for bands like Custom Radio; but in a place like Spain, where the majority of people are either “Heavies” or into pretty much any shit that’s played on the radio over and over again raping our bleeding ears relentlessly, how is underground jazz funk received?
“We’ve heard all kinds of opinions about our concerts from young people that, not being Jazz-devoted, get surprised and tell us “I never heard Jazz but I really loved it”. We don’t think that you have to have a cultivated ear or that you have to be an old vinyl-collector. Our music is from and for the street, and we feel during our shows that people grasp an atmosphere full of energy with no mental complications, simple but tremendously powerful.”
Remember Twin Peaks’ Audrey Horn? Every time she stepped into the diner, you could hear a certain jazzy tune play in the background as she stood swaying her hips from side to side. Although Audrey may have been the main seductress, the groovy sounds that accompanied her playful flirtation can release the same horniness in music lovers around the world and although the little vixen may not share the stage with Custom Radio, they will awaken pretty much the same sensations in you.
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