Project Grand Slam have been making headlines in both the independent and mainstream music press for years now, and when listening to their latest album, East Side Sessions, it’s easy to understand why. Led by the one and only Robert Miller on bass, Project Grand Slam are a band that doesn’t play by the rules, and while this is a common feature among jazz groups, it applies even more to this unit than it does the average band in the American underground today. East Side Sessions presents us with Miller’s crew in a litany of fresh situations – Latin beats, rock rhythms, country harmonies and surreal lyricism are all ingredients in the righteous recipe used here. It might not change the world as we know it, but this is an LP that jazz buffs are sure to dig all the same.
URL: https://www.projectgrandslam.com/
Robert Miller is rightly the face of Project Grand Slam, but he hands the spotlight over to singer Marilyn Castillo in “Tessa,” saxophonist Alex Blade Silver in “I’m Falling Off of the World” and guitarist Tristan Clark in “Hey Jake” without hesitation. There’s so much chemistry between the players here, both new and old to Project Grand Slam, that it’s hard to believe that this is the first record this complete lineup has recorded together. If there’s anyone in the jazz underground who can put together a flawless ensemble cast, it’s Robert Miller, and those who dared to question this before will have no choice but to admit the truth after checking out East Side Sessions this month.
“Constable on Patrol,” “The One I’m Not Supposed to See,” “The week” and “Stockbridge Fanfare” have a great jam feel to their framework, and would probably sound even more engaging live than they do here. The magic that this group must get going when they’re experimenting in the studio has got to be something incredible to witness, and to some degree, these twelve songs give us a backstage pass to their composing process in a way that wasn’t possible in previous efforts. There’s a transparency to this mix that makes it feel like we’re listening to well-polished basement tapes, but all of the material is top tier-quality without debate.
If Greetings from Serbia was a brawny muscle-flex for Project Grand Slam, I think it would be safe to describe East Side Sessions as that album’s perfect companion and counterpart. Its twelve-song tracklist is the intellectual show of strength that had been missing from the alternative end of the jazz spectrum in 2020, and though I don’t think it’s going to be the last stunner Robert Miller sticks his name on before calling it a career, it currently qualifies as one of his most mature records to see widespread release internationally. I’m not planning on staying away from his band’s catalogue of colorful beats as the decade begins to take shape, and I would recommend that any and all jazz connoisseurs follow this lead. PGS mean business, and their momentum won’t be slowing anytime soon.
Jodi Marxbury