Fight or Flight

Song of the Week

Screen shot from “Fight or Flight”, all rights Juna Serita

I’ve been leaning into jazz and fusion lately, so it was a nice treat when this popped up. I’ve been following Juna Serita since she popped up playing bass with the band that would become Muses. She was around 20 then (her exact birth date has never been published) and had earned the sobriquet “Princess of Funk.”

Since then she has played with an astonishing number of musicians and has done a couple of world tours, all while anchoring both the Jazz Avengers and Muses. She somehow finds time to write new music and to recruit ensembles to play it with her, and has released seven albums under her name.

Bassists rarely lead bands. Serita has just the right touch — she writes stuff that lets the other musicians shine and generally sticks to her lane, providing the support they need to shine. So she has no trouble finding top-shelf people to jam with her.

I had to look up Jack Gardiner — I was not familiar with him. He is an established British guitarist who has made the rounds, collaborating and doing session work with many folks. Turns out he can really play! Great guitar tone, clean picking, can adapt to many styles, fast or slow.

Here he joins the Princess of Funk herself for a little jam. He does some really nice improvisation halfway through the piece. The other two guys are not slouches, either. This is reminiscent of some of the progressive fusion that became big in the 80s. It’s exuberant, despite the ominous title, and certainly picked up my day.

Let me know what you think!