CHESTER GORILLA

Chester Gorilla, I presume named after a bit of a Frank Zappa song on "One Size Fits All", released their debut album in 2020, thirteen years after forming in Palermo Italy in 2007.

While this album is somewhat short, clocking in at just over a half hour, it is very promising.

The songs, mostly instrumental, are primarily inventive jazz-rock, with a blend of fusion and funk. Their sound is smooth and tight, with a sound that reminds me somewhat of the classic Soft Machine, with that 1970's flair of inventive composition, with a bit of humor that they express in both instrumentally and vocally.

Chester Gorilla took shape in Palermo, Sicily, in 2007. After many line up changes and an immature self-produced demo EP in 2011 entitled Solo guai, in 2019 the band recorded a good eponymous debut album that was released the following year on the independent label Vasto Records with a line up featuring Daniele Caviglia (guitar), Filippo "Phil" Caviglia (bass), Salvo Cheerio (trumpet, percussion) and Vincenzo Salerno (sax) plus the guests Cristian Manuk (flute), Alessio Masi (piano, synth) and Sergio Beercock (vocals, loop station). The overall sound is a nice mix of jazz-rock, funk and psychedelia with strong echoes of Italian seventies B-movies soundtracks while the artwork by Alba Scherma might recall Gong's "You"...

The brilliant opener "Puippara" is a lively track that seems coming out from a car chase scene of an Italian poliziottesco film. There's a good use of the flute while the frenzied rhythm and the nervous passages could recall bands such as Calibro 35. Next comes the dreamy "Shesone", calmer and sprinkled with exotic flavours...

"Peter The Elephant", features the guest Alessio Masi on piano and synth and starts by a calm piano passage and a bellowing sax, then the rhythm section comes in for a bold ride through the jungle on the back of an elephant in search for adventures while the following "Aripupollo Space" mixes jazz and psychedelia with funny, carefree inventiveness.

"Guacamole" blends pulsing bass lines and funky passages with darker, Mediterranean flavoured parts and a touch of mystery while the closer "The Heat", featuring the guest Sergio Beercock (vocals, loop station), goes in a different direction trying to combine jazz and soul with soft disco atmospheres and smooth lounge music.

On the whole, a good work.