Potentially Interesting Jazz MusicI Hold the Lion's PawAlbumGenre: JazzDescription: I Hold the Lion's Paw's third studio albumPotentially Interesting Jazz Music poses the rhetorical question: what is jazz or more pointedly what might it be? By turn exploratory playful and experimental it is a record that mashes slow-burn trumpet bass grooves synths voice spoken word percussion without ever losing its way or overplaying its hand. From 'Mechanical Ghosts' fashioned from electronics beats and eerie trumpet through to 'When the Earth and Sky Conspired' underscored by Emily Bennett's soaring vocal arrangements Potentially Interesting Jazz Music represents the futuristic sounds of an improvising ensemble dedicated to continuous reinvention and renewal.Since its inception in 2016 the music of I Hold the Lion's Paw (IHTLP) has constantly morphed; a psychedelic hubbub of shape-shifting sounds likened to the feeling of having stumbled into someone else's LSD trip (John Shand Sydney Morning Herald). I want the audience to join us in a genre rebellion when they listen to I Hold the Lion's Paw says founder and ARIA nominated trumpeter Reuben Lewis. I started IHTLP to freely collaborate with the places people and creative contexts that inform my identity as an artist and my role as bandleader is to keep the door open to possibility when we play. It's about the journey we've never been interested in adopting any particular style or norm.If IHTLP was founded upon Reuben Lewis's eclectic musical vision then this current incarnation adopts a more democratic approach one foregrounded in the contributions and philosophy of a star-studded quartet featuring Emily Bennett (Great Rack and an Empty Club Reverb) Ronny Ferella (Ish Ish Michelle Nicolle Quartet) and multi ARIA award winner Adam Halliwell (Mildlife). Capricious and forward-thinking as ever IHTLP continues to draw nourishment from the radical past cherry-picking and re-purposing scraps and slivers from a rag bag of forebears: Ornette Don Cherry Miles Sun Ra Laurie Anderson Jon Hassell.
