by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

For Montreal's upscale groove merchants Kobayashi, 2003 was a damn fine year. Granted, 2002 offered a slew of snappy billings, which saw them share stages with the likes of Greyboy, Karl Denson and Metalwood. Did "03 rank with that?

"In terms of mingling with superstars, no," says bassist Radu Falcon, "but in terms of actually getting stuff done for us, pushing the envelope and pushing projects forward, 2003 was more rewarding."

"We made a lot of big steps," adds saxophonist Josh Gearey. "Putting a CD together, that was great, but the big highlight was when we played the Jazz Fest. It was crazy, probably one of the most exhilarating shows I've ever played. There were two or three thousand people there, outside. The energy off that many people was great."

"I think we won them over, according to comments we were hearing from friends," continues Falcon, "and also the fact that we sold quite a few CDs off of that. And then our next show at le Swimming was a lot more full than usual."

The acid test

It doesn't hurt that the octet, who liberally mix up jazz, funk, R&B, hip hop and electronica, avoid the dense wankery of some comparable acts in favour of steady, fluid, understated grooves. Capable players all, the temptation to fly off on intricate if unproductive tangents must be mighty.

"We're very conscious of that," says Falcon. "I think our forte, and we recognized this a while back, is that we're not virtuoso players. We're capable, but we're not amazingly extraordinary. So we're a compositional band first, trying to push the song first at the expense of all our members - like communism, I guess." (Let it be noted that both Falcon and Gearey showed up for our chat decked out in red.)

"We've all trained ourselves to do that and, to me, the best part of this year is that we've gotten better at that."

As such, it's inappropriate to dump Kobayashi into the "jam band" basket. In fact, they show no shame in calling themselves an acid jazz band. "It's the nasty word, now," says Gearey. "We use it because that's what we started with, when we weren't sure which way we were going to go - more toward the funk, the electronica or the jazz. We had the big umbrella of acid jazz. It's a good way to describe what we do, and it gives us more freedom. If we want to do a funkier song, or more of a hip hop song like "The Game," or more of an electro song like "Catalyst," we're free to."

Muses Falcon, "What else have we been shooting around? There's been jazz-hop, urban jazz, electro-funk - on CBC's New Music Canada site, we're listed under hip hop, so I think everybody struggles with the name. I think acid jazz will have to do until somebody comes up with a name that sounds right."

Critical condition

Priority, though, goes to getting the sound right - reaching a perfect balance of the rhythm section with the keys and horns, the wicka-chick of Evan Melnyk's decks, Omari Newton's conscious rhymes and Hadiya Roderique's soulful crooning.

"We're getting more and more critical of what we do," says Falcon. "We used to churn out songs, now it really has to be worked and worked, really good in many different aspects, before it even gets considered. Some people are more critical than others - "

That comment prompts a mention of Melnyk the turntablist. "It's almost like we have a producer built in," chuckles Gearey, "because Evan's instrument doesn't lend itself to being thrown all over the place. He can throw in the flavours here and there, but composition-wise, he stands back and listens to what we're doing and tells us what's right or wrong."

Whatever went right, it ended up on the band's new self-released EP The Night We Took the City. "We did as good a job as we could, so we're happy about that. But the flipside of that is, we've come a long way since recording and we have a lot of new songs that we want to record.

"I think the songs are still stronger live than in the studio. Our forte right now, whether we like it or not, is that we're a live band. We do a pretty good job of live, I think."

CD launch with guests Ark of Infinity and Azuris Aurum at la Sala Rossa on Thursday, Jan. 22, 8pm, $7

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