Review: SML is the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Together they present their debut album Small Medium Large, a collection of long-form improvisations recorded during two separate two-night stands at the beloved Los Angeles venue ETA. Forming the perfect locale in which to boost their initial rise, ETA is perhaps no longer a fitting name - with SML, we're no longer pondering this band's estimated time of arrival. Small Medium Large is a sublime assemblage of circulatory grooves and textural anomalies, at different moments recalling the synth-laced improvisations of Herbie Hancock's Sextant, the jagged dance punk of Essential Logic, the rhythmic revelry of Fela Kuti, the low-end elasticity of Parliament/Funkadelic, or the glitchy dub techno of Pole.
… Read more