Some bands hire a social media manager to make sure to be on every imaginable social media site, and then you have JUZZ from Galicia in Spain who, apart from a meagre Bandcamp page, are quite invisible to the world. A little more profile wouldn’t be wrong because more people deserve to discover this excellent band.

Led by guitarist and composer Virxilio da Silva, JUZZ are an instrumental progressive jazz rock band who recorded their self-titled debut album in 2016 and released it two years later on vinyl. Fast forward another six years, for the re-release on CD, coming with two bonus tracks that is an incentive for those few who managed to grab one of the hand-numbered vinyl record.

The band consists of musicians playing guitar, bass and drums, which is the rock part of the music. A Hammond organ and an electric Rhodes piano make for a warm analogue sound of yesteryear, and the saxophone procures the jazz parts. All of this is melting seamlessly into a cohesive whole, hypnotising the listener with either furious jazz rock outbursts or introspective quieter moments.

The album begins with the nine-minute-long opener Rathenow Towers, a perfect introduction to the wilder side of JUZZ. The dramatic intro of the song is followed by a sizzling jazz rock epic with a discreet yet beguiling guitar and moody piano chords, whereas the melody is provided by the saxophone. The occasional break allows the guitar to play heavier chords that highlight the rock part of their music. The following Dead Water is an even heavier track, with punching drum beats that show that jazz rock can also be straight in your face. Lamento Fuzz takes things back a notch or two. Despite its muscular opening, its middle section makes room for an improvised part dominated by tenor and alto saxophone. Strange stuff, especially so early on into the album, but quite intriguing nonetheless. Up next are the two previously unreleased tracks. Plateau Grzegorz begins quietly enough, seems even a little unobtrusive at first, but slowly yet certainly build up momentum, and before you know it, you are faced with a behemoth of a doomy jazz monster that will make you come back for more. Udrawoe Starship VI is JUZZ at their heaviest, with the guitar taking front and centre, with the bandleader showing his love for fusion jazz guitarist like John McLaughlin and Jimi Hendrix. The concluding Outro Tempo is at ten minutes the album’s longest track and is a fitful ending to an excellent album. The six-piece uses the generous length to dig into a more minimalist and repetitive sound, which generates quite a hypnotic effect.

I usually don’t care much for re-releases, but I make an exception for JUZZ. First, most people might have missed their debut. Secondly, adding bonus material that shows an even wider array of the band’s talents is very welcome, just like the different running order of the songs which in my opinion makes more sense on the new CD than on the original LP version. JUZZ play, like I mentioned earlier, progressive jazz rock, with touches of Rock in Opposition and free jazz, and pack it in the warm enveloping sound of the Canterbury scene. At times I feel reminded of Soft Machine’s legendary third album, albeit with guitar. As the band has no real online presence, I don’t even know if they are still around. If so, I hope to hear more from them soon.

6 songs

50:59 minutes

***** ****

Genre: instr. progressive jazz rock

Label: áMARXE

Artist pages:
Bandcamp