Snow Panda’s Ombak Mixes: 1. Hooten

A newly self-aware robot makes its first attempts and autonomous movement. Rapid fire balance calculations can’t quite reign in the clumsy unfurling of its limbs.

October 21, 2009; 6:01 AM • by Dean Christesen

Each day for a week, we’re releasing one track from Snow Panda’s Ombak mixes. On Wednesday, October 28, Snow Panda will perform with Ombak at Cous Cous. Today’s track is “Hooten.”

Listen:

[audio:http://rvanews.net/sounds/Jazz/01%20Hooten.mp3|titles=Hooten|artists=Ombak: Snow Panda Mixes]

Snow Panda says:

It’s basically a play on the frenzied rhythms Bryan writes into some his music. I wanted to take the “Aware” rhythms and deconstruct them a little further. To counterbalance the beginning I had to straighten everything out for the middle section and turn it into a dance party for a bit with a Hooten trombone choir accompanying a chopped together Trey solo, not to mention Cameron’s sweet bass line.

Ombak’s Bryan Hooten says:

A newly self-aware robot makes its first attempts and autonomous movement. Rapid fire balance calculations can’t quite reign in the clumsy unfurling of its limbs.

RVAJazz says:

The intro is distinctly “Aware,” the trombone choir in the middle section could be from anything, but it’s beautiful. Leading up to the climax, Bryan’s un-manipulated A section is heard for the first time in its entirety, while Trey’s alien guitar swirls and cymbals and bass crescendo. The piece ends on the fabricated bridge in 5/4 that we were introduced to earlier, succumbing to a drone and cymbals.