Our latest Album was mentioned in Culture Monster:
“A brightly twisted product of CalArts’ music program, the quartet Slumgum has played off-center local incubators like the Blue Whale and the Steve Allen Theater’s experimental showcase ResBox. Rising out of Rory Cowal’s flickering Fender Rhodes keyboard, “Hancho Pancho” expands into a growling storm led by saxophonist Jon Armstrong, and the thoughtful “Afternoon” showcases the band’s care with slow-burning acoustic atmosphere. The group dips into rougher waters with the knotty “Puce Over Pumpkin With a Hint of Lime” and an uneven six-pack of songs under the name “Big Fun,” but the group’s vivid sense of melody and relentless drive for exploration mark it as a quartet to watch.” -LA Times
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“Having admired Slumgum’s record, I’m stoked to experience their artful simplicity in person. They coast through long composed suites, grooving easily in oblique tribute to 1974 Miles and breaking down into improv sections that leave plenty of elbow room. It’s a bit distant, but beautiful, and they pull you in. On tenor and soprano, the indifferently confident Jon Armstrong applies his strong technique to trancy circular arpeggios and sustained gentle overblowing, often resorting to an Ayleresque bathetic vibrato that at first seems sarcastic but isn’t. Rory Cowal lays down softly decisive chords on electric piano. Drummer Trevor Anderies and bassist Dave Tranchina are big listeners who forsake not the beat. The general rule of counterpoint gives way to a single steaming crescendo. Memorable.” – MetalJazz.com