As the extended summer of 2023 edged into Autumn, something stirred in South London and a new release appeared by Zoöphyte, the brainchild of author and singer Peter Jones and producer Trevor Lever.
If the cover art-work (above) is alarming, the music is anything but. Conceived as a jazz-pop project by the Jones-Lever song-writing duo, the music offers accessible grooves and riffs laced with an unmistakeable jazz sensibility. There’s a lightly worn sophistication to the construction of the mixture of instrumental and vocal driven originals, with artful shifts of harmony, occasional odd metres and plenty of space for expansive soloing from a terrific band and well crafted uplifting arrangements.
The rhythm section is anchored by Rob Luft on guitar, Ross Stanley on the keys, with the bass of Dave Jones and drums of Sophie Alloway. The tenor of Vasilis Xenopoulos and Graeme Flowers’s trumpet bring something extra to the mix. Steely Dan, jazz inflected rocky grooves of 70’s vintage may be reference points, but there’s another layer of accessible hooks and dance inducing grooves injected that give the album a sun-drenched feel good mood.
Edwin’s Mood built around horn riffs and a catchy organ figure is an ear tweaking opener. Working Hours introduces Jones’ conversational lyric over a shuffling funky groove with a sliding, jazzy, melodic line. Let’s get out of the City, introduced by Luft’s flowing acoustic guitar, turns into a ‘wind-in-the-hair’ anthem with Jones’ vocal caressing the ears, embellished by lyrical flourishes from Stanley on piano. There are instrumental tracks with St. Dude making full use of the horns with added trombone from Tim Smart who also contributes a solo on the evocative ballad Wait Until Dark.
Galapagos is a breezy, engaging album sure to bring a bit of light into any day. It’s easy to imagine enjoying a set from this band in a festival field somewhere next summer.
Mike Collins is a pianist and writer based in Bristol, who runs the jazzyblogman site
