Subterranean Jazz adds Celtic melodies to the mix
By Chris Hansen Orf
Get Out

More than most musical genres, jazz feeds off experimentation, improvisation and challenging song structures, and local combo Subterranean Jazz is even more experimental than most groups plying their trade in the Valley. The group will celebrate the release of its new third record, “Celtic Lines,” Sunday at Kazimierz World Wine Bar.

On the band's two previous albums, the group composed straightforward jazz pieces and experimented with a variety of Latin and world beats, but “Celtic Lines” finds the group expanding its scope into traditional Irish melodies. “We wanted to bring some of where we come from into the music,” says bassist and composer Jimmy Peggie, a native of Perth, Scotland. “We're interested in beats from around the world, and Celtic is not the sort of thing that's been done that much in jazz.”

“We kind of wanted to give people a sonic detour,” explains tenor saxophonist and composer Tom Clohessy, a fan of traditional Irish folk music. “ ‘Celtic Lines’ kind of indicates that (the Celtic) influence is not always overt, but it's a thread that runs through the music.”

Both Clohessy and Peggie, who write the majority of the combo's material, have a variety of musical influences — and the upstart, do-it-yourself attitude of the group is evident in its ability to seamlessly infuse jazz originals with reggae, rock, Latin and world beat music. Subterranean Jazz, which also includes Dave Sorensen on drums and guitarist Jeff Lauffer, takes an approach to jazz that challenges the academic norm.

“There are some jazz players — and I've had somebody tell me this — who say ‘You need to learn a standard tune so tight that you have absolute contempt for it,'” Clohessy says. “And then you can disassemble it and do your own thing from there. Part of me understands that, but the other part of me thinks, like with Gershwin and Cole Porter, I love the song and sometimes I'd be content just to play the melody. But to say that it's just some passé thing — I don't get that.”

“All music is valid, no matter who it's by,” Peggie says. “It's someone expressing themselves, it's their art form.”

“We play the kind of music we like to hear,” Clohessy says. “And it's great when other people like it, too.”