On his new album and with his new band, both called Impure Thoughts , Michael Wolff holds African tribal, funk, Indian drone, jazz and even a bit of the rock musical up to the light to see what each throws into relief. Often, one genre's sound is like the other, or like another thing entirely, contrasting what sets genres apart with what brings them together.
Long version follows.
Impure Thoughts, the band, is made up almost completely of rhythm players. I spoke to Wolff in the small dressing room of Seattle's Jazz Alley before his first set of two that evening. He told me tabla player Roy, who's played on albums with Miles, was inspirational in Wolff's compositions for the band. So the beats are usually what inspires me for this band, this is a very rhythmic band. This is what you call your understatement.