Wise Monkey Orchestra
Make Believe
****1/2
Wise Monkey Orchestra is in top form on -Make Believe-, their 3rd independently produced CD. Relentless touring over the past few years has given the seven-headed-rhythm monster from Ocean Beach a robust, at times omnipotent onstage confidence. That same sonic swagger has now carried over to the recording studio.
"The Truth" opens -Make Believe- with a trap drum cymbal
talking to a conga. Sultry and soulful female voice intonations float over a
jazz-funk guitar riff. A chunky clavinet rolls rhythm while the bass bumps and
grinds below. Every once in awhile, a superbly charted horn-section kicks the
jam into a state of groovus-maximus. And that's just the first song! Whether
the music drifts through dreamy, existential space ("Smog"), saunters elegantly
through smooth-bop ("Blues For Jordy"), or warp speeds into an in-your-face
funk explosion ("Jerry's Tune"), WMO has a -sound- that blends the decadent
spirituality of life on Southern Cal's beaches with the swanky syncopation of
a New Orleans Mardis Gras. Even when they -Make Believe- WMO is for real, and
so is this delightful album.