Bazooka (band)
| Bazooka | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Southern California |
| Genres | punk jazz |
| Years active | 1990s |
| Labels | SST Records |
| Past members | Vince Meghrouni, Bill Crawford, Tony Atherton, Don Carroll, Jeremy Keller, Steve Reed |
Bazooka was a musical band active in the early 1990s, and led by drummer Vince Meghrouni. Their music could be broadly classified as jazz, but also touched on other styles. All their albums were released by SST Records.
The first line-up was Meghrouni, bass guitarist Bill Crawford and saxophonist Tony Atherton. This lineup of Bazooka record three albums: "Perfectly Square", "Blowhole", and "Cigars, Oyster and Booze."
Songwriting was split about evenly between the trio's members, with a healthy dose of jazz standards written by the likes of Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins and Lee Morgan. The music was generally in a bebop or hard bop vein, though a few pieces were freely improvised, and there was a strong punk rock or hard rock quality, particularly in Crawford's playing.
In his review of 1994's Blowhole, Richard Foss wrote, "It is difficult to articulate just what makes Bazooka such an interesting band and Blowhole such a fine album. There are other bands that play jazz with rock fervor and wild abandon, but few who do so with anything approaching this level of pure musicianship."[1]
However, in December 1994, Atherton decided to leave the band, followed shortly thereafter by Crawford.
Meghrouni used the Bazooka name with a new quartet, consisting of Meghrouni retaining his position as a drummer, pianist Don Carroll, guitarist Jeremy Keller and bass guitarist Steve Reed. Keller was the primary composer, and the new line-up had a very different sound, more in line with funk and jazz fusion. Sonic Business Environment -- apparently Bazook's final record—earned positive reviews, and even appeared on a few jazz radio charts.
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