Upon listening to a new Jeff Bujak project, it feels like taking a refreshing shower after a long day at a beach, for you know that to cleanse means a mental reawakening, ready to get gritty all over again. In other words, with Bujak’s music you have a small hint of what he’s capable of but the great thing about his work is that you come to expect the unexpected. What one ends up with is fantastic results, which he delivers in Alive Like The Spine (Harmonized).

Bujak is someone who combines jazz with electronic based production, not beat driven nor it it new age, but it’s definitely something somewhere along the middle. I don’t mean new age in a corny sense, but… let’s just say that if labels like ECM and Kudu were at their peak in the 90’s with some of the electronic music innovations, they might create the kind of sounds that Bujak is exploring in his music. There are eight tracks on the album, the shortest one being 5:47. Even when the musical journey feels comfortable, he throws something into the equation to disrupt it for the better. For example, “Sea” is very tranquil and indeed fluid, but right before the midway point he starts playing the electric piano as if he was Ramsey Lewis circa-1974. Before that, you hear Latin rhythms and then it might move into something that borders on smooth jazz, that is until the unexpected is thrown in again. “Nomadd” might be more on the progessive side of things, if only for the fact that the sound he uses for the keyboards is unlike anything that resembles. Same for “Mutator”, it’s as if Bernie Worrell entered the machine with Jan Hammer and they had synth babies. In fact, consider this an electronic interpretation of Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow and Wired, as Bujak makes music that is meant to be listened to on an intense level but can also work for atmosphere.

Fans of Jazzanova are sure to get into this for the way it gets into a groove without even trying, plus add to this the fact that these are very good songs. “Yogoque”, with a soulful performance from vocalist Christine Devlin Eck and harmonies from Jistin Eck, could easily be used as a lure for people to hear more from Bujak (I was going to say single but in a better world everyone would still be buying singles) and of course the Eck’s. Electronic music enthusiasts will find a lot to grip on with Alive Like The Spine. One of the best albums of the year.