On Repeat Spectrum Trio

Madison can be a decent town for those who like to check out "world" music. The year's music calendars consistently boast the annual Madison World Music Festival, of course, plus a scattering of notable artists from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. That said, it's rare to see some homegrown innovation in this department. We've written before about Madison's This Bright Apocalypse; groups like the klezmer-updating Yid Vicious and Gypsy-jazz-influenced Harmonious Wail have been sinking in around town for years; and we can't leave out admirable Latin-jazz acts like El Clan Destino. Doing that kind of stuff takes a certain amount of technical skill and a lot of enthusiasm for very specific genres of music, so naturally "innovative world music," or whatever you want to call it, isn't a huge niche. But there's at least one more band you can add to it: a threesome of drummers called Spectrum Trio, who celebrate their new self-titled CD with a Wednesday-night show at the High Noon Saloon.

The band's latest effort is rooted in the rhythmic traditions of Cuba and South America, and involves lots of percussion instruments with names like batá, guiro, and cajon. Dane Crozier, John Doing, and Mike Truesdell all pitch in on other instruments too, especially pianos and synths, and they all sing—in the West African Yoruba language, according to the liner notes. Of course, it can take a few listens to get accustomed to some of the all-percussion breakdowns, but the band's tight professionalism helps keep songs like "Ogun" focused. The drums maintain a busy conversation, with some element always taking the lead and chopping around and against the central beat. And these passages are always leading somewhere and serving the band's other interests, be it the harmonized vocal melody-chants of "Ogun," the moody flourishes of piano and alto saxophone on "Humans Are People Too," or the synth-driven funk of "Cyber Songo."

"Cyber Songo" by Spectrum Trio

Reading through Spectrum Trio's brief but detailed liner notes for each song adds a formal, slightly academic edge—"'Olorun' is a salute to the most powerful deity and creator of the orichas in the Santeria religion," for example. But that also exposes Spectrum Trio's enthusiasm for honoring, tweaking, and mixing traditions in its well-considered, trickily structured world-jazz compositions. The only thing we'd suggest adding on Wednesday is an audience of folks who can latch onto the grooves and egg on Spectrum Trio's talented palms (and fingers and throats and such) to dig up all the fun (and education) inherent in these songs.