Primal Existence

Mamutrio was founded when 19-year-old drummer Jesse Dockx convinced his teachers, alto saxophonist Lieven Cambré and bassist Piet Verbist, to collaborate with him. Primal Existence is an hour-long exposé on how to make a traditional approach sound contemporary. Part of the group's success lies in its demarcated sound registers: Verbist holding down the bottom, Cambré in the upper-middle, Dockx' cymbals on top, his snare and toms filling in the lower-middle. Cambré's sound, restrained yet emanant, conveys a depth beyond its lightness, a hint of eccentricity behind its be- and postbop leanings. Dockx sparks it all without excessive volume. Additional interest lies in small but effective modifications of form: final measures are elongated then shortened for a drum solo ("Triads"); the meter shifts mid-solo ("To Remember"); an 8-bar bridge is appended to a 12-bar blues ("Night Shift"); traded 8s diminish to 4s and finally 2s ("My Love You").