Volume 2 by KVL

Volume 2 is the long awaited followup from the all-star Chicago trio of QUIN KIRCHNER, DANIEL VAN DUERM & MATTHEW LUX. Although it's been three years since their debut, Volume 1, KVL has continued to hone their brand of call-it-whatever-you-want jazz, keeping many of the same meditative and ambient qualities as their previous album, but expressed in new and different ways - Van Duerm's repetitive and winding organ lines on "Absent Crash," Kirchner's steady & insistent "Compared to What" beat in "Pink Void," and Lux's steady & subtle bass lines throughout.

But that's not to say this a rehash of their previous work, as Marcus J. Moore astutely noted at the end of his 2019 review of Volume 1,

"On an album full of lush tranquility, “Bladewalker” snaps you back to reality while foreshadowing KVL’s next move."

And Volume 2 does step boldly into new territory. The trio gives us the wild free jazz of "Percival's Dilemma," the meeting of electro and afrobeat on "Microvibe," and finally, "Interconnectivity Suite," a stunning 10 minute journey through fields of experimental electronics, dub groove rhythm section interludes that are so tight you could wind your clock to them, ruminative electric piano and eventually ending back into a world of lush tranquility.

KVL isn't coming back around full circle, rather Volume 2 finds KVL expanding and refining their sonic palette. A focus on looking forward instead of behind, and giving us yet another glimpse of what is to come in the future. But for right now, Volume 2 sounds just right coming out of my speakers and I couldn't be happier.

KIRCH/VAN/LUX, is the improvising trio of Quin Kirchner (drums, sampler, electronics), Daniel Van Duerm (keyboards, electronics) & Matthew Lux (bass, electronics).