| The RACE!!! Quintet is a free jazz collective led by guitarist Ross Hammond. They have been actively playing in Sacramento and the Bay Area for a couple of years and "Travels" is their debut album. "Their first record, Travels, is a nice reminder of what makes improvisational music so rewarding. Five talented musicians who’ve been playing together off and on for a little more than a year, go to a studio with no fixed compositions, and chasing serendipity, create a record’s worth of new music. Most of the eleven tracks work in slowly developing modes, moodily using space to shape melodic ideas and build harmonic interplay. Occasionally there are some lagging moments of indecision, but largely what we’re treated to is the sort of smartly instigated spontaneity and intuition that comes from fully engaged musicians. Essaying and discovering, they’re unafraid of taking their time..." - One Final Note |