Jai-Alai Savant

The first full-length release from the Jai-Alai Savant is a sprawling exploration of genre-bending, intricate songwriting. The Jai-Alai Savant (pronounced hi-a-lie sa-vant) first introduced their reggae-punk, Police-inspired fusions with the Thunderstatement EP, and Flight of the Bass Delegate picks up just where everything left off. Tight reggae stylings are coated with thick, up-tempo horns while front-man Ralph Darden’s vocals complement and complete all of the music happening around the lyrics, instead of making the vocals a singular focal point. It all comes off as a fantastical immersion into a sensory overload of rich bass lines, twitchy guitars, floating instrumental outros and clattering collections of drumbeats. Darden leads a double-life with the Jai-Alai Savant, not only appearing as himself but also as Major Taylor, his alter-ego and DJ moniker, who contributes "beats, dubs and concepts” to the band. This split personality is present throughout Flight, in both the snippets of slick samples as well as in the sounds of insistence that are coupled with the laidback pop purity.