Sep. 10, 2008 at 7:13am

Cliff Colon & Co. Nerdcore Jazz CD Release

Music to this nerd's ears

Cliff Colon and friends are busting out a whole new brand of cool with the upcoming release of ContraBand CD based on video game tunes from that side scrolling classic Contra. Dare I call it nerdcore jazz? I sure hope so 'cause this would rock people's DS's off up at PAX next year! I'd contend that some of the best themes of the last 20 years have come from video games and Cliff taps into this in an energetic way as no one else can. Here's what he says in his CD release email:

The debut album contains jazz arrangements of the music from the 1980's side-scrolling, run & gun, 8-bit video game called Contra. The songs chronicle  each level (or stage) of the game, in sequential order. Since the beginning of jazz, musicians have reworked songs familiar to non-jazz listeners and made them their own. Music from pop tunes, movie soundtracks and Broadway shows have been arranged and performed in a jazz format. The album "ContraBand" was created in honor of this tradition. For the most part, I have tied to keep the melody, harmony lines, and feel of the compositions true to their original form, while still opening up the songs with jazz chord changes to allow for improvised solos.

Give the snippets over on their MySpace a listen then trek up to Tula's in Seattle Oct 9th for the debut or wait to see them in Tacoma at Jazzbones on Nov. 9.

I played with Cliff in college and heard him play in all kinds of settings around Tacoma. The joy he brings to the stage and through his horn is infectious and I have no doubt will worth the cover and some. Hope to see more video game inspired goodness from them in the future. I hear the original Sonic has some pretty good themes.

Link to ContraBandJazz.com