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Throttle Elevator Music is a West Coast collective who birthed their own brand of ferocious punk-funk-inspired jazz with the release of their eponymously titled debut album in 2012. A mix of expansionary workouts and tight, raucous punk cuts, the record highlighted leader Kamasi Washington’s unique playing, coupled with Wide Hive founder, producer, and composer Gregory Howe’s impassioned and relentless drive. Over the next seven years, they followed with ever-evolving musicality and innovation with periodically recorded albums showcasing their development and musical obsessions.
Founded by Howe, the group was brought together in 2011 to merge two uncompromisable genres: jazz and punk. Featuring young tenor saxophonist Kamasi Washington, drummer Mike “Lumpy” Hughes, and bassist/pianist Matt Montgomery, with Howe in the producer’s chair, Throttle Elevator Music saw them define their own take on punk-jazz. The ensemble reconvened in 2014 for their sophomore album, Area J, this time with Mike Hughes on drums, and once again delivering a resolute blast of ferocious jazz. The following year saw Howe and co. deliver their third long-player, 2015′s Jagged Rocks, before returning again in 2016 with IV. Around the same time, Washington’s career took off, with the release of his albums The Epic (2015) and Heaven & Earth (2018) cementing his position as one of jazz’s leading lights. In 2017, a fifth LP from the ensemble appeared; titled Retrorespective, it featured a host of new material recorded in both 2011 and 2016.
Howe resurrected the Throttle Elevator Music ensemble for 2020′s Emergency Exit. Like its predecessor, the album featured a host of unreleased music recorded between 2011 and 2014, and featured guest playing from the likes of Ross Howe, Kasey Knudsen, and trumpet player Erik Jekabson. In March 2021, Throttle Elevator Music issued Final Floor, their last collection of original music resurrected, as its title suggested, from the studio floor in the from of leftovers in the form of alternates, outtakes, demos, developed fragments, etc. Rather that present them as an odds ‘n’ sods collection of tracks, the set was carefully curated sequenced, and arrived as a proper seventh release. ~ Rich Wilson