Steeped in their love of jazz, metal, and classical music, the members of Switchblade Rosie have honed their sound into a package that combines influences from all these genres and pushes them one step further. Inspired by everything from John Coltrane to Meshuggah, Death, and even Bach, these forward-thinking gents believe in the idea that music should never be singularly genre-specific. Their unique take on progressive metal places a mélange of classical melodies and jazzy rhythms at the forefront of an aggressive and emotionally delivered assault.
Following the announcement of their upcoming, self-titled album out March 2012 on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records, Philadelphia and New York-based avant-garde power trio Many Arms have premiered the first new song from the release, entitled “Rising Artifacts In A Five-Point Field” HERE.
The name alone immediately invokes thoughts of incredible jazz from an eccentric, larger than life personality. Miles Davis is synonymous with jazz music and had an important role in shaping the genre as a whole. I feel however that Davis’ music is not only for jazz fans; it truly transcends genres and appeals to millions of people worldwide.
I recently had the good fortune to to sit down with Alex Skolnick to discuss his jazz project, The Alex Skolnick Trio and their latest offering, Veritas. Most people are familiar with Alex’s guitar work with popular metal band Testament and would be surprised to know that for years now, he’s also been writing and playing traditional jazz with The Alex Skolnick Trio. Veritas is a terrific jazz record and is a world apart from metal, although it does contain a very cool rendition of, “Fade To Black.”