ReMix: The Legend of Zelda 'LinkGoestoNewOrleans'

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A hearty welcome to jazzsmiths Neskvartetten, who offer up a very tasty, flowing jazz arrangement from the first Zelda. The texture here is fantastic, with a gritty distortion on the organ, some lovely syncopation to the melody covered by jazz guitar, and - probably my favorite - some dynamic jazz drumming that really ties the piece together, drawing some impressionistic lines around the free-formish jam. This is drumming that - and someone may prove me wrong one day, with the right tools - you just can't achieve by electronic, synthetic means. At least, it'd take forever, and prolly still not end up as good. I could listen to just the drum track, isolated, from this ReMix, and not get bored. Combined with the greasy organ riffs that know JUST when to enter, exit, and when to protrude from the mix or sit underneath it, as well as a funky bassline that's far from boring and the afforementioned guitar that both leads the piece and reacts to it, this is a fantastic example of talented jazz instrumentalism and improvisational (if not in actuality, then in style) arrangement being applied to a rather simple, chromatic motif from a classic game. Given the scope and relative simplicity of the original, you've gotta love what Neskvartetten (Johan Sundhage, Lucas Edman, Niklas Engman, Stefan Pettersson) have accomplished here. While it doesn't particularly remind me of New Orleans jazz, which I tend to think of as more upbeat, bombastic, and brass- or woodwind-driven, it definitely oozes an authenticity, and brings something new to the table. The mixing and processing on the organ alone are enough to go on about at length, but I'll keep it a bit shorter: recommended, and can't wait to hear more. Kudos.

― djpretzel