SLIDE FIVE

Few San Francisco bands have evolved like Slide Five. Once known for packing clubs with their own take on the retro jazz funk revival (check the classic Rhode Trip), the trio have recently emerged with a new album that is packed with new musical ideas. Mixing live performance with loops and samples, Slide Five dive head on into the worlds of drum and bass, dub, soul and jazz. People, Places & Things is a fusion album for the 21st century and brings the band full circle.
   
"We started four years ago, with the goal of combining jazz with modern technology and dance music. We were basically a straight live band playing lines over computer grooves," says guitarist John Warrin.
   
Moving from New York back to their native San Francisco in 1993, John and keyboard wielding brother Dave teamed up with drummer Guy Gershoni. They abandoned their samplers and sequencers in favor of a more organic approach to performance. "At the time San Francisco was really a live music scene and during our first year we played well over 200 gigs in the city alone," says John. Rhode Trip, Slide Five's debut album, documents their favorite tracks from that time, including some recorded with top London saxophone man Jacko Peake (session player for Paul Weller, Push and The Young Disciples).
   
In 1994, Slide Five took a break. San Francisco's vibrant live scene had turned stale with an overabundance of live acid jazz bands killing off the initial excitement. Innovation was low except from a collection of DJs who were pushing the boundaries of club music into the eclectic state it currently finds itself in today. Looking for inspiration Slide Five relocated to New York and dug up old synths and effects while acquiring a few new studio toys. Here, with a change of cultural pace and attitude the seeds were sewn for People, Places & Things. Moving back to San Francisco, they finished the album by teaming up with the likes of the Automator (producer of Dr Octagon, engineer for DJ Shadow and a Ubiquity recording artist, too). People, Places & Things brings out our base influences of dub, dance and experimental music, it's an excursion into sounds, textures and vocals," says John.

"After repeated listenings, we here at Metromix have the courage to say that People, Places & Things is one of our all time favorites, and most flawlessly produced CD's of the decade! As of late, there hasn't been great jazz coming our way from any of the majors or any of the independents that service us until now. Slide Five is made up of the Warrin Brothers and Guy Gershoni, Slide Five is all live instruments baby! This is one of the CDs strongest selling points - the energy that the listener feels in their music is unparalled. Something very magical happens when live musicians play together (Dave Warrin plays the absolute most wicked keyboards and Juno bass on this CD, he is definitely a tru' jazz player). On the production tip this CD is produced sooo smoooooth! Guy Gershoni's drums especially. . .You can hear the stick ever so gently hitting the snare with just a little reverb, pure ecstacy to the intelligent ears."
-Metromix Magazine

"San Francisco's Slide Five returns with their second album, and they've evolved from a primarily live acid jazz outfit into a more club-based functioning band. Although the core of the group is still live keyboards, guitar, and drums, the musical territory now expands into dub, soul, drum 'n' bass, and included loops from prominent folks such as DJ Smash, DJ Swingsett, and Mark Farina. Plus, the album was mixed with the assistance of man-of-the-moment, the Automator, who lately turns everything he touches into gold."
-Mixmag

"With groups like Slide 5 . . . San Francisco has also become a hotbed of new-groove experimentation."
-Rolling Stone

"The San Francisco jazz heads have departed from their usual real instrument based grooves to get avant garde on us. Taking in the modernist music of today - drum and bass, dubby jazz and ambient - they've made a progression worthy of attention, although '11 O'Clock' is still in the pure jazz boogaloo vein and all the more gorgeous for it. The band are superb musicians, able to look to the past but stay firmly in the present. This accomplished new album proves that for sure."
-Touch Magazine

“Decidedly different--jazz meets modern programming. Medeski, Martin and Wood have competition again.”
-STRAIGHT NO CHASER