PINSKI ZOO are seen by many (including US drummer’s Mark Holub’s
Led Bib drummer) as the originators of what is now known as ‘power
fusion’ – a mix of hammered bass, crashing drums, shifting keyboard
textures and keening/roaring saxophone rooted in Ornette Coleman’s
harmolodics and James Brown’s funk, but more jazz-based than either.
Intriguing, then to hear them (after a characteristically wide-ranging,
witty and oddly-moving 40 minute solo-piano-plus-tapes set from the extraordinary
Matthew Bourne) after Holub’s band in a June mini-festival at London’s
Vortex, programmed by Led Bib. All the old Zoo power and roiling energy were
in evidence, leader Jan Kopinski waiting until the band reached near boiling-point
before tearing into his anthemic saxophone themes, keyboardist Steve Iliffe
providing the textures and moods, bassists Karl Bingham and Stefan Kopinski
complementing each other perfectly and drummer Steve Harris crashing out
the industrial-strength beat. At full throttle, there’s no sound as
full-blooded or viscerally powerful as Pinski Zoo’s – unless
its Led Bib’s. The band played a short introductory set that was almost
painfully intense subjecting everything from Erik Satie to simple musical
hooks to their full-on, two-sax, no-holds-barred approach, powered by Holub’s
pounding drums.
Chris Parker