Maxfield Gast
Eat Your Beats
Militia Hill
www.militiahill.net
By George W. Harris

Here’s a debut recording by someone who’s got A LOT of interesting
ideas. Maxfield Gast plays the sax, EWI, trumpet and keyboards, and
meets up with a funk-laced band (Mike Pietrusko/dr, Tyler Lynch/b, Adam
Platt/p, Ben Wright/b Mike Shobe/tp) on a set of ten tunes that, while
imbibing the hop hop groove, mixes eclectic elements that are quite
impressive. Some of the tunes like “Death Bear” have some rich sax
section sounds that are reminiscent of Ellington, while “Micro Zenith”
has some operatic samplings that will grab your attention. There’s
enough funk on tunes like “Ham Radio” to get you strutting your stuff
as well, but it rises well above the normal gloss, with so many
interesting ideas flying around.