Behind a very unassuming band and album (formally, an EP) title lies quite an intriguing musical project.
Bada-Bada is a French avant-garde jazz trio and behind the simple II title they come up with their answer to a hypothetical question ― if you can combine jazz and hip-hop (not so unusual these days) can you combine improvisational jazz with the strict rules of techno?
Essentially, Bada-Bada combine the trio’s capabilities with, keyboards, synths, sax, and trumpet with all the up-to-date techno studio techniques that characterize the genre. To underline the fact of what is going on here, the six Bada-Bada tracks are augmented by two remixes by pianist-techno producer Fabricio Rat and another techno producer, Distant Echoes.
And Bada-Bada comes up with some quite extraordinary results here – from the blistering sounds of the opener “R8G3” to the more reflective tracks like “Maria João.” The fact is that their experimental combinations work and gel easily here, with neither jazz nor techno dominating the proceedings, but one supporting the other in exact measurements as they should. One type of sound makes tension and the other set brings release, creating a type of musical yo-yo that works exactly as it should.
No wonder it appears on a label (Jazz-o-Tech) devoted to the combination of exactly the genres listed in its name.
