"Jazz in New Places" - The Brooklyn Rail, 2/2010

excerpt: "Following the more esoteric opening act at Drom was Taylor Haskins’s “electro-acoustic” outfit Recombination, a group that specializes in solid, in-the-pocket grooves punctuated by shredding solos. Recombination’s fearsome lineup includes Haskins and drummer Nate Smith, members of the Grammy-winning Dave Holland Big Band, as well as New York heavyweights Ben Monder on electric guitar, Todd Sickafoose on upright bass, and Henry Hey on synth. The band’s basic formula layers electric and acoustic sounds over modal grooves in a variety of time signatures.

The ambient chatter at the Drom died down quickly as Recombination pushed through its set. Monder kicked up the delay and distortion to a more intense level than usual. Haskins ran his trumpet through a pedal that doubled the original note a fifth above, adding to the wave of electronically sculpted sound pulsing and glitching over the acoustic rhythm section. The five musicians on stage often sounded more like ten.

Recombination closed their set with an unexpected and impressive arrangement of the Aphex Twin song “Alberto Balsam.” The choice seemed in keeping with the general tone of the night: You can still find jazz that feels young, fresh, and playful if you know where to look."

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