Comments on: Chet Faker & The Royal Swazi Spa – Fear Like You

By: Derrick

Derrick — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 01:49:36 +0000

Thanks for the link Tim. In case you/Brendan were interested, the bassline is sampled from Abdullah Ibrahim’s track Ishmael from ’76.

By: Tim Fitz

Tim Fitz — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:47:05 +0000

Great points all, Brendan. I think the primary purpose of the recording may have been more to do with the promoted cause rather than a crusade to bring jazz back to the masses. I was interested by your point about this being jazz at its most superficial, and agree that jazz like this is unlikely to re-enter the main-stream consciousness, that seems to be a struggle even for the Robert Glaspers of the world.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:27:27 +0000

Good article Tim. Though the opening does indeed remind me of Footprints, (or perhaps So What, considering it’s lack of harmonic variety) I feel that the ensemble playing on this track is not good. I don’t know who the drummer and bass player are, and I’m hesitant to criticise them too quickly, but the drums are completely reactive, relying on the bass to create the rhythmic drive and interest, while that bass plays the same damn ostinato near on 5 minutes (even when the chords change in the chorus).

The elements that makes jazz the great genre that it is is lost in this track. This is jazz at it’s most superficial. Double bass, splashy cymbals and one chord modal jam? Check, check, check.

There are some redeeming features to this track. Chet’s vocals as you mentioned, plus the piano solo is quite good. I can definitely hear Shorter’s Witch Hunt at the beginning of their solo. Likewise the saxophone solo. But if they are indeed aiming to educate the their audience and bring jazz to the masses I suggest they go back to school first.