Canadian instrumental jazz/rock fusion act Finely Tuned Elephant have been quite a few line-up changes since they formed in 2019. It all started as a solo project from guitarist Jordan Robinson, who connected with drummer Kyle Iveglia before being joined by bassist Felix Labrosse. They made one album, Perfect Coincidence, that made some waves in their hometown Ottawa. Things were growing nicely through woird-of-mouth and critical acclaimand they started composing the material for what become The Fast Life, with new bassist Cyrus Robertson Orkish and keyboard player Nawfel Djari, and began road testing the material. What happened next is not exactly clear, but it was decided that core members Robinson and Iveglia would be finishing recording the new music as duo.
The Fast Life has written muso favorite all over it. It is both accessible and smart - think The Aristocrats without the weirdness and shredding. Even as a duo they manage to sound like a full band, with Robinson regularly setting up a guitar-bass dialog with himself and Iveglia acting as an extra soloist, besides laying down the rhythm. Finely Tuned Elephant can rock and swing, and there is no sign of the self-indulgent navel-gazing and "look-mom-no-hands" tomfoolery that gave fusion a bad rep in the past. Now all that if left for them to do right now is get all four of them on stage to replicate this new material and take it to the next level with some free-flowing improvisation.
Finely Tuned Elephant:
Jordan Robinson: guitar, bass, piano, synthesizers
Kyle Iveglia: drums, percussion
- The Fast Life
- Daisy Enterprise
- Third Eye
- Sunrise Ride
- Now We're Cookin'
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Neon Skyline
- New Kind
The Fast Life is a self-released album. Buy it (CD, digital) from their website.
