The Ploctones - Ploc! (2013)

The Ploctones on Ploc range from rockish jams and avant-funk to quieter ballads. The adventurous guitarist Anton Goudsmit stars.

When one hears the Ploctones, there are times when their playing is so explosive that it sounds like Sonny Sharrock meeting Albert Ayler with Jimi Hendrix helping out. Certainly the first two passionate numbers on Ploc, their fourth CD, sounds that way. But then there are other times when they sound like a modern jazz group that displays lyricism and melodic development. The Ploctones are certainly an eclectic and unpredictable group, and they clearly want to stay that way.

Founded in 2004 and based in the Netherlands, the group is comprised of the intense guitarist Anton Goudsmit, Efraim Trujillo on tenor, soprano and flute, bassist Jerden Vierdag and drummer Martijn Vink. Goudsmit is the lead voice and the most explorative improviser but the other musicians do not exactly take it easy on Ploc. Trujillo plays powerfully (particularly on tenor) while Vierdag and Vink add a great deal of passion to the music.

After the rockish “I Know That You Know That I Know That You Know That I Know” and “Amerika,” the band shows its diversity on the more laidback “Tag You’re It,” the avant-funk of “Entangled” (which sounds a bit like early Bill Frisell), and the thoughtful ballad “Falling Grace.” They return to rockish sounds on “Kriminalpolizei,” play funk a la John Scofield on “Pork” and are playful on the rollicking “Playda.”

Ploc features the Ploctones at their most colorful and creative. Scott Yanow

Tracklist:

01. I Know That You Know That I Know That You Know That I Know…
02. Amerika
03. Tag You're It
04. Flare
05. Entangled
06. E.Z.T.O.N.A.V.
07. Falling Grace
08. Slikker
09. Guiseppe
10. He Didn't Wake up This Morning
11. Kriminalpolizei
12. Pork
13. The Flowershop
14. Playda
15. All to Get Her Now

Personnel:

Bass – Jeroen Vierdag
Drums – Martijn Vink
Guitar – Anton Goudsmit
Saxophone – Efraïm Trujillo