SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS

The leading undertakers of 'death jazz'
Jazz clubs? Reverential, hallowed sanctums that resemble public library reading rooms, where chin-stroking and moderate head-nodding are permitted but anything more audible than a mouse's whisper is greeted with a silent chorus of disdainful stares. Yes? Well, nobody told Soil & 'Pimp' Sessions that was how to behave. Firing off scattergun drums and blowing furiously on horns as if the next breath will be their last, this Japanese collective play what they've coined 'death jazz' - the point at which the seemingly incompatible spirits of free jazz and heavy metal converge and entwine. This isn't music as precious artefact. Their live shows are raucous, high-energy occasions that aim to turn the interaction between jazz musician and audience into more than "a transmitter/ receiver relationship". Purists might turn a blind ear but they're unwise to. Think you don't like jazz? Go see this bunch and prepare to have your preconceptions turned inside out.
(Biography by Nige Tassell 2010)